My First Dissertation Session

My first self-induced college class....and I was late. However, it proved productive. Attended from five to nine.

5:20 Threw out dissertation ideas concerning multiple valedictorians. Tossed out studying alternatively certified teachers with theatrical backgrounds, began brainstorm on new topic, the impact of rural elementary secretaries.

YOU TELL ME....How 12 dollars an hour replaces the Principal so well when he or she is out! Secretaries run a place full of college degrees, know more about the day-to-day operations than anyone else, have more personal and professional time with more staff members than any other employee, know more about the machinery, community, and unspoken rules than almost anyone in the district---yet go relatively unstudied in regards to his or her impact on leadership, climate, and culture. IN REGARD to small school secretaries everywhere......

I brainstormed for an angle----5:30 to 6:10pm
1. I drew up a ton of comparison's for gauging aspects of a secretary that may contribute or take away from the school setting, a principal's effectiveness, or....yada yada.

6:30 to 8:20 Library

2. I then went to BUROS to look for tried and true measurements that seemed flow from my brainstorming notes. Found the following measurements: Survey of Org. Climate, Interpersonal Trust Surveys, Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale, Job Stress Survey, Benchmark of Organizational Emotional Intelligence, Adaptive Style Inventory, Adult Self-Expression Scale, Job Attitude Scale).

8:20 to 9:00pm

3. I liked the empathy scale. I am aiming at answering the following question at this time: Whose empathy matters most (if at all), the secretary's or the principal's?

Ergo, this possible model came out of my research:
A. Score Secretary on Empathy Scale
B. Score Principal on Empathy Scale
C. Then score staff on Organizational Climate Scale and look for Correlations!!!

Anyone out there! Please let me know where I am lost. Poke holes in my logic and laugh....PLEASE. Any laugh will do--just not the mwhah-hahaha with dark inflections.

Next Week:
For a review of lit.....Will look for Dissertations that:
1. Address Important Attributes of Healthy Organizational Climates
2. Address the importance of secretaries.
3. Address the aspects of empathy.