2.   Research Design and Methodology

2.1.   Introduction:

This chapter explains the empirical process and the research design and methodology used to collect the data presented, analyzed and interpreted in the following chapter. The method of quantitative data collection was used in a total of 60 schools, from which 30 are elementary, 15 juniors high, and 15 high schools. In addition, the research applied method triangulation of combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies of using questionnaire and observations, respectively. While applying the method of observations, the researcher conducted observations in 15 from the above schools in order to compare the findings of both methods. These schools are located the following Arab towns and villages in Northern Israel: Yafeea, Nazareth, Zarzir, Rayni, Mashadd, Ecsal, and Kabiye. Section 3.1 presents the procedure in its entirety and explains in particular why a triangulation method that combines quantitative and qualitative research design was chosen and which bases for the choice of method appear relevant. All in all, 314 teachers from these schools filled out the questionnaire that is based on the Teachers Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (TJSQ) and will be used in the quantitative research (Lester, 1987). In addition, 33 school principals from some of these schools filled out the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Bass & Avolio, 1996). Both questionnaires are standardized questionnaires, and in this study the both were combined into a single questionnaire. The combined questionnaire was translated into Hebrew and distributed to the teachers using Google Forms. In addition, I added several background questions and other “Yes/No” questions to the combined questionnaire in order to make it compatible with my research questions. The MLQ was circulated among principals, while several background questions were added to it. Both questionnaires and the additional questions will be added to the appendix (1) of the dissertation.

The selection of schools and the causally related selection of school heads, which is certainly a central element, is then explained in Section 3.2, as the sample was chosen for both methods within the coherent research design. In the following, the main focus is on the central methods: Section 3.3 deals with quantitative observations, the subsequent section with qualitative observations (3.4) and a further interaction with the school principals, in the context of which the

collected data was presented to the respective school principal and then the ‘observation subject’ was also given the opportunity to comment on the data collected. The chapter closes with a consideration of objectivity and reliability and validity of the present study (3.5).

2.2  Overview of research approach and methodological approach

The difficulty of combining qualitative and quantitative strategies in one methodology is often emphasized (Creswell & Poth, 2016), but research designs are also available that show an integrative, triangulating connection between qualitative and quantitative research (Creswell & Tashakkori, 2007). This often means that the decision between these two main strands of empirical research is based on the one hand on the knowledge to be gained and the type of data that can be expected and on the other hand on the scientific thinking underlying these methodologies (Lincoln, Lynham, & Guba, 2011) .

Here, the fundamentals of various methods and their underlying paradigms, including a list of the differences between qualitative and quantitative methods, should not be written down again in detail (Levitt et al., 2018), but rather the reasons for the empirical investigation of the question of the present study, a combination of qualitative and quantitative method, multi-level research design was used. Both the formulation of the research question and the questions subdivided into it as well as the problem areas and comments on the current state of research and the resulting problem area presented allow conclusions to be drawn about the methodology to be used in the empirical phase. In particular, the current state of science and research cited and presented, as well as the (expected) direction and the planned scope of the work, suggest an explorative and, on the other hand, a qualitative and quantitative research design. In this area in particular, the triangulation approach seems very useful (Olsen, 2004; Grissom & Loeb, 2011). In addition, it should be noted that the complexity of the problem, in particular the focus on the in-depth understanding on the one hand of the school management action and the influencing factors, on the other, justify a qualitative and quantitative design (Creswell & Creswell, 2005).

Since in the following it is necessary to differentiate the explanation of the selected methodology along the multi-level of the procedure, the research design should first be explained, while the explanation and justification of the methodology used and the respective limitations

including considerations of validity and reliability as well as the procedure for data collection like the data analysis in the corresponding sections, is considered separately. The research seeks to answer the question of the impact of school principal management style on teacher’s self- satisfaction, well-being, motivation and empowerment. The review expects that self-fulfilled instructors who are exceptionally energetic impact on pupils’ accomplishment. The reason for the work is to analyze different administration styles of the vital that are normal overall in schools and in the Arab area in Israel specifically and what they mean for educators. What are the attributes of every administration style and what the administration style means for the complacency and inspiration of the educators. These factors of vanity, prosperity, strengthening and inspiration act as a mediating variable that influence understudy accomplishment. Coming up next are the exploration questions and speculations of this examination:

2.2.1.   Research Questions:

• What influence does the principal’s leadership style or management style has on educators’ gratification, encouragement and incentive?
  • In what manner, Arab educators’ motivation, encouragement and gratification, drive them to become actively involved in the schools in the case of Arab schools in Israel?”1

2.2.3. Hypotheses:

H1: There is a positive correlation between the management style of transformational leadership and teacher self-satisfaction.

H2: There is a positive correlation between a rewarding manager and the achievements of the school’s defined goals.

H3: There is a positive correlation between the degree of transformational leadership of the principal and the level of initiative of the teachers.

1 Bsoul, Tahreer and Marius Vasiluta-Stefanescu. „The Impact of the Principal Leadership Style on Teacher Job Satisfaction among Arab Teachers in Israel: A Qualitative Analysis” European Review Of Applied Sociology, vol.14, no.23, 2021, pp.50-61. https://doi.org/10.2478/eras-2021-0010. https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/eras- 2021-0010

H4: There is a positive correlation between teachers’ sense of satisfaction, sense of ability and level of initiative, on the one hand, and teachers’ productivity, on the other hand.

H5: There is little correlation between the avoiding leadership style and teachers’ self-satisfaction.

The research question listed in this thesis are divided into the sub-questions to be investigated in a two-stage empirical procedure:

The data is used to exploratively and statistically research the tasks and activities and the associated development of the variable of school management style and action and its impact on teachers’ satisfaction and well-being. The operationalization of the variable is based on the activities and the findings presented in Chapter 3, namely individual activities condensed into processes (Blumberg, Cooper, & Schindler, 2014).

The method of the semi-organized observation of educators at the school is expected to fill two needs. In the first place, this is planned to empower the information got from the examples to be enhanced on school the board. This empowers the information got to be triangulated (Olsen, 2004), which permits a more itemized assessment of the noticed peculiarity. Furthermore, the build of legitimacy can be expanded. Second, the examination question ought to be exactly researched, for example an exploratory assurance or examination of the impacting factors (x) on the movement

(y) ought to happen, by which it ought to be noted here that this exploratory assurance is directed and enhanced by the speculations framed from the hypothetical build, for example at last a change of the hypothetical affecting variables acquired from the writing, joined with an augmentation.

2.3  Selection of the Sample:

For empirical research in the sense described above, 33 school principals were approached as well as hundred teachers, from which 314 filled out the questionnaire to form as a statistical sample. The subset of several public schools in Nazareth and other Arab towns in the surrounding area was formed from the population of all public schools in this district.

The research area is the district of Nazareth in Israel was chosen for the following three reasons:

• The author’s previous knowledge of the school system in the Nazareth area as a vice principal in one school and as a member of the Municipal City Council of Nazareth and through participation in a project in the context of refining the training of school principals, in particular with regard to management knowledge with access to empirical field work.
• Spatial proximity to the place of residence of the author and thus the possibility to visit all school principals personally in advance for a preliminary talk in addition to the attendance appointments ‘observation day’ and to arrange a personal reflection appointment— especially with regard to the fact that the project is completely financed independently and has not received any third-party funding or other research funding.
• The fact that the combination of city-state and rural area with politically very closely coordinated school plans and concepts certainly covers a large part of the realities to be found in the Nazareth district and the Arab school system in Israel. This is supported by the fact that this design ensures that the school is entitled to a sufficiently large, without a permanent staff of pure administrative officials supporting or taking over the management of the school.

Given these considerations, all schools were then selected that were inspected in the current test cycle of the Nazareth school inspection and thus published a report that can be viewed. This selection is made according to criteria that are visible, comprehensible and in particular those that ensure the representativeness of the relevant schools that were selected Ultimately, this selection was also made with a view to enabling follow-up research, as these available data could provide information on the performance variable. In accordance to the Ministry of Education ethical regulations of conducting research in Israeli schools, before the school principals were contacted, the Ministry of Education issued approval in accordance with the School Act of the State of Israel and an approval under the School Act of the Israeli Ministry of Education. The respective approvals for carrying out this research work were approved under the following three conditions or restrictions: (1) voluntary nature of the participants, (2) anonymity of the participants and (3) transfer of the results to the respective departments, as the research intention was considered relevant and interesting for the current work of the relevant departments has been classified. In the course of the approval process, the author of this study signed corresponding insurance policies in the course of the points just mentioned, as well as other data protection guidelines and deposited them in writing in the relevant places. A total of 58 schools were then contacted throughout 2020

and 2021. The socio-demographic characteristics of this group were compared with the actual sample in order to rule out a bias in the results of the research subject.

The question that has to be asked is to what extent a sample of 33 school principals is appropriate to answer the research question. While in qualitative case-study researches, it is acceptable that up to a maximum of ten studies form a sample (Eisenhardt, 1989), there were about 314 teachers participating in the quantitative data collection who filled out the questionnaires. However, it is questionable whether this would increase the sample size. Limitations of the methodology can be excluded, since in the absence of a formalized probability model the risk of the observation methodology, the occurrence of certain interesting events, cannot be guaranteed by increasing the sample size, which is more important when it comes to logging a probability of an event. This is not the case in the present research design. It can thus be assumed that the sample is appropriate.

2.4  Structured observation:

In the context of this work, in addition to the questionnaires, the method of structured observation is used. The following section describes the methodological fundamentals of the methodology in its various forms including its specific limitations, explains the reasons for the choice and in detail the use of the method in data collection and data analysis.

2.4.1 Choice of Methodology and Limitation:

Undifferentiated from the exploration question formed, the point of the technique is to get the most practical, exact picture conceivable of the effect of school chiefs leadership style, for example which contrasts could this at any point have on the self-gratification of educators. According to Oplatka, empirical research into managerial behavior, and concretizing research into what managers really do, should follow two fundamental principles (Oplatka, 2009). From another perspective, there is (1) an observational spotlight on the topic of which styles chiefs apply in their administration of their schools. Then again, (2) there is the regularizing hypothetical perspective or conceptualization that style X is preferred and more powerful over style Y. The two standards were considered in the current examination plan. As well as addressing and content examination, perception is one of the three fundamental study techniques utilized in the sociologies (Creswell

& Tashakkori, 2007). Other studies, on the other hand, speaks of several qualitative methods (Levitt et al., 2018). This certainly shows the low use of the methodology in certain areas of scientific research. The method of observation as a data collection technique can be structured according to several criteria.

2.4.2.   Quantitative Data Analysis:

This research utilizes the use of collecting data via the distribution of questionnaires to teachers. As mentioned above, the following standardized questionnaires were used:

• Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Bass & Avolio, 1996; Muenjohn & Armstrong, 2008)
  • Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (TJSQ) (Lester, 1987).

Both questionnaires were combined into one and were distributed among teachers in order to examine how they evaluated the leadership style of their principals, and how they evaluate their own satisfaction from their work as teachers. Several background questions were added to the combined questionnaire about the personal and social background of the teacher, and whether they were thinking of quitting their job as teacher. The questionnaires and the additional questions can be found in Appendix 2.

The MLQ was given to principals. The same questions were asked to both teachers and principals, yet the only difference is that principals were asked about their own leadership style, whereas the teachers evaluated the leadership style of their principal.

Quantitative methods are mostly the method of choice for hypothesis-testing research questions. To develop the hypotheses, general models of explanation or existing experimental investigations on the relevant subjects are utilized; the hypotheses are determined (rationally) from these models. In the quantitative methodology, normalized techniques for information assortment are utilized; the objective is the most genuine conceivable type of information assortment and analysis. An essential characteristic of a quantitative data collection is measuring and testing data from experiments, questionnaires, performance tests, log files or existing statistics and studies that are subject to further analysis.

The collected data in the quantitative methodology will be evaluated for statistical inference (e.g. correlations, t-tests, regression analyses, Cronbach alpha analysis, analyzes of variance, and factor analyses) so that the results should provide information about whether the postulated hypotheses – with a certain probability – are valid or have to be rejected. Statistics program of SPSS will be used to help with the evaluation and analyses of the data.

With the triangulation approach, quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and data analysis go hand in hand. A research question is viewed from a multi-perspective, the data are collected or evaluated almost simultaneously using various methods. The studies should support each other and bring together the knowledge about the subject of interest from several perspectives. Olsen (2004) advocates a systematic triangulation of perspectives in order to mutually complement the strengths of the respective research perspectives and to mutually point out and compensate for their weaknesses. In addition, one other study describes various concepts of triangulation such as data triangulation, investigator triangulation, theory triangulation and method triangulation, and shows the main strengths and weaknesses of the approaches (Grissom & Loeb, 2011). For example, one project may intend to show how various quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and data analysis can be meaningfully interlinked.

The ‘structured observation’ used in this research is defined by the fact of how of observing the principal and teachers’ interaction and how the principal is doing his work and every event, whether verbal contact or other action with teachers, is categorized according to various criteria. This development of the categorization criteria takes place during the observation phase (McDonald, 2005). In the sense of the criteria mentioned above, it is a participatory, semi- structured form of observation and thus corresponds to an observation method of empirical social research.

Structured observation is particularly suitable for the question to be investigated, as it enables the everyday environment to be made visible and, despite a small sample, promises a relatively high gain in knowledge in the areas of management behavior and its backgrounds. The methodology is more suitable here as a complementary methodology to indirect research method of questionnaires (McDonald, Simpson, & Johnson, 2014). This applies to the questions to be examined, since, as the section on the state of research has shown, the question of how principal leadership affects teachers’ satisfaction has not so far been thoroughly studied. In addition, the methodology facilitates the classification into the existing research, which largely relied on a

similar methodology. The direct observation of managers in their natural environment and in their immediate work environment yields different results from those obtained through questionnaires (McDonald, 2005). Observation thus serves as a suitable complementary means of researching a phenomenon that has not been adequately investigated in the scientific process, of determining hypotheses and later transmitting them to the group of researchers as being tested (Nachmias and Nachmias 1976). The research project described is based on precisely this intention.

2.4.3.   Limitations of the ‘Structured Observation’ Methodology:

Here should be a critical reflection that would look at this contribution to current research in terms of its weaknesses. The method of structured observation shows clear limitations that also apply to this work. In his description of the limitations, McDonald (2005) again specifically addresses very specific dimensions, namely in particular the problem of data collection, combined with the great effort that this method requires and the effect of the researcher’s presence. It should be noted here that the existing literature, in particular the contemporary sources available on in particular method-inherent inadequacies, also with reference to the theoretical context, are very limited. Another study summarize these limitations and points of criticism of empirical, evidence-based management research and analyze the inadequacies of the method in relation to the context and point out relevant problems (McDonald et al., 2014).

The authors of this study focus primarily on the fact that the justification for choosing the methodology, namely the often still inadequate research situation, is associated with a presupposed degree of lack of theory, which in turn leads to inconsistent categorization and conception, ultimately too little theoretical foundation and consequently to one lacking of definition and clarity, which leads to what is ultimately to be understood by ‘managerial’ and ‘managerial work’. There are also limited opportunities to refer to the area of ‘managerial effectiveness’, which, however, is not the subject of this thesis. Overall, from the author’s point of view, the limitations can be divided into 3 dimensions, which should be explained in order to illuminate the specific limitations of this work and which are each addressed by different researchers: (1) the efforts involved in the investigation of the research area, (2) problems during data collection and (3) the

effect of the presence of the researcher, which due to its special importance should be considered again in addition to the other problems during data collection.

• Efforts involved in the investigation of the research area:

Disadvantages of the method are shown in the high amount of time in the implementation, difficulties in creating the sample, which could ultimately lead to the above-mentioned problem of the representativeness of the sample and possibly to the generalization of the results (McDonald, 2005). The application of the observation method usually leads to small samples, which can be compensated for through special care in coding and reliability checks. As a special factor that allows the reliability to be tested, triangulation through the combination of the methods in the present research design should be mentioned again.

Here, however, the choice of this study area must also be named, namely the Arab-Israeli town of Nazareth and its surrounding Arab villages and towns. In addition to the advantages mentioned and the fact that the combination of city-state and rural area with politically closely coordinated school plans and concepts certainly covers a large part of the realities to be found in the Arab-Israeli sector, transferability of the research to all of Germany is questionable and should be discussed in detail. The extent to which the knowledge gained can be transferred to the school system in Israel as a whole must certainly be analyzed separately. The different school structures in Israel have a lot in common, but the Arab sector in the education system is not integrated and aligned to the same extent as is the mainstream Israeli secular sector. However, within the scope of this study, no indications could be found that specifically link the results to the given structure. Nevertheless, this aspect should be further analyzed, which cannot be done within the scope of this work. It should be noted at this point that research in the field of pedagogical concepts as well as system comparison studies, which mainly focus on the subject-specific competence of the students, should expressly not be part of the work presented here. Even if the work touches on parts of school development research as well as school quality and school impact research, it is mainly in the area of public management. The discussion about the extent to which the results of this work can be transferred to an extended context and can be applied in the area of the public sector should also be pointed out here.

• Problems with data collection:

Surely, observation is considered a difficult process that is relatively seldom used as a systematic instrument in economics and social sciences (Moser & Korstjens, 2018). This is also due to the inherent problems of the methodology of data collection and especially in the development of a coding scheme, but also to the limited inclusion of the effects of various contextual factors and frameworks (Suen & Ary, 2014), which in the existing design to a certain extent through triangulation can be balanced with the results of the quantitative analyses. Nevertheless, the problem inherent in the methodology arises that it may not be possible to observe all the interactions of the school principal.

• Effect of the Presence of the Researcher:

In all methods of the social sciences that are based on observation, the question arises to what extent the presence of the researcher influences the result. These occur in particular in the data collection and data coding phases, which is why these sections should have particular relevance in the description of the research design (Platt, 1983). Another study describe the following errors as the most common in observation (Keusch, Bähr, Haas, Kreuter, & Trappmann, 2020):

Tendency towards the middle, that is, the perceived observation is classified in the middle in the corresponding categories and extreme scale values are avoided.

An assessment that is too mild (especially in the personality assessment), combined with the halo effect, i.e. a distortion of the assessment due to similarities or strong contrasts to the assessing observer.

Evaluation of situation elements according to an implicit theory on which the observer is based and / or connected with it, the evaluation on the basis of a temporary sequence (in particular the effect of the ‘first impression’) or the so-called ‘observer drift’, i.e. the temporal shift of the perception (Greve & Wentura, 2010). In addition to the minimal control through the notation of the suspected effects in the logging, measures can be taken, especially in the design, which seek to minimize these effects. The design used dispenses with scales and tries to reduce the effects described above by applying a uniform, objective connotation technique and the use of classifications that use a category scheme and allow a temporal notation of the raw data.

In addition, other measures can be taken during the observation that could distort the data. Primarily, the detailed and previous acquaintance of each other, the first inhibition thresholds and

a different behavior of the principal under observation conditions may affect the results (Aydın Balyer, 2012). Furthermore, with the same goal, a non-invasive observation behavior, characterized in particular by avoiding eye contact and interaction and not directly participating in the action, is chosen in this research. This is further characterized by the fact that the observing person tries to make herself invisible and does not intervene in the course of the action and does not disturb the scenery or the phenomenon and actively causing it (Creswell & Poth, 2016). A complete influence, especially from third parties, cannot be completely ruled out. So the author is typically introduced by the principal („This is a scholar, she is only there to watch us doing our work”), but a certain bias on the part of third parties was definitely noticeable, which usually subsided quickly.

This manifested itself in the fact that some people tried to include the author in the conversation, addressed him directly or looked at the reactions. In most cases, however, someone else’s presence seemed to be quickly forgotten. Since this study focuses on activities and less on style, it can be assumed that it follows the principle that the impairment is negligible. Ultimately, we can join the conclusion of McDonald, who assigns limitations and deficiencies in some areas to the method of structured observation, but notes that the complex object of research, namely the question of what managers (principals) really do and the fact that the state of knowledge of the empirical research is still comparatively small, this method appears to be suitable to enlarge the foundation of empirical knowledge.

2.4.4 Data Collection:

The process of data collection with each of the headmasters requires actual observation day and the associated recording of the observation.

For the examination work introduced here, in any case, a comparing structure was planned ahead of time as per the created a general model, which, nonetheless, was enhanced and refined over the perceptions and eventually brought about a last observation version. The basis for this pre-structuring was the state of research, but also the results of the theoretical work or the preparatory phase, which refers to the time of the intensive literature research that the author carried out and created for this work and the results especially in the next chapter.

2.5  Structured Observations:

The second part of the methodological design consists of structured observations. The choice of this method is based in particular on two reasons. On the one hand, by triangulating the results of the observation in order to ultimately increase reliability and validity. On the other hand, the observations are intended to clarify the second part of the derived research question (which is partly exploratory). The following sections explain why the selected method appears to be appropriate for the question. The following sections explain in detail the reasons that led to the choice for this type of observation especially in contrast to other methods and the possibility of connecting an analysis with the structured observation analysis, describe the limitations of the method, the procedure for data collection and data analysis.

2.5.1 Choice of Observations Method as Opposed to other Methods:

Surveys in the form of observations from the side are certainly still considered the standard instrument of empirical social research (Bimrose & Hearne, 2012), even if work with case studies has become increasingly relevant, especially in economics (Levitt et al., 2018). The observation is defined by the fact that a reconstruction takes place in reference and transparency of the frame of reference as well as the set of relevance systems depending on the degree of openness or the structure (Dias de Figueiredo, 2010). In addition, observations allow exploring the disclosure of rich data, especially in a research area that has not been adequately researched and thus can contribute to the formation of a theoretical model, which is ultimately one of the key points of social science represents (McDonald, 2005).

In addition to the differentiation according to the form of the survey into oral, written or internet-based variants of the questionnaire, an analytical differentiation of the method can also be made according to the degree of structure and the distinction between individual and group surveys (Kapoulas & Mitic, 2012). The aim here is not to recite all the advantages and disadvantages of the various types of observations and techniques, but instead explain the reasons why the method of the structured observations was chosen in addition to data collection via a questionnaire. This was done for three reasons: (a) appropriate to the character of the research design, the possibility

of proceeding both exploratively and expanding hypotheses; (b) taking account of the research subjects’ complex body of knowledge, according to the reconstruction of subjective theories; (c) possible balance between ensuring the narrative flow, but also ensuring that all necessary topics are addressed in accordance with the defined research intention.

However, the fact that the author had definitely considered the second part of the research question, that is, in order to explain (possibly existing) differences in school management actions and to generate corresponding hypotheses and pointers, should certainly also be mentioned here by identifying the means of using the exploratory case study on the basis of guideline-based, qualitative observations. The case study is a suitable means if the goal is to fully understand complex social phenomena and to obtain holistic and meaningful characteristics of real-life events (McDonald et al., 2014). In his remarks, Oplatka (2009) explicitly emphasizes the areas of ‘managerial processes’ and also ‘school performance’. In addition, the case study is particularly suitable as a research method if the following three conditions are met:

First, the type of research question asked, i.e. in particular research into the how and why. Second is the degree of influence that the researcher has on the given behavioral conditions. And third, the degree of focus on contemporary as opposed to historical events.

Due to the advantages of the structured observation methodology outlined above and the fact that should be emphasized that the observations with a broader spectrum with regard to exploratory requirements were made possible, the use of case studies and interviews was dispensed with, especially with interviews, where the interviewee would seek to impress the interviewer and would highlight the merits of his/her leadership style.

2.5.2. Data Analysis:

Data analysis can be described by three steps: (1) the preparatory transcription of the observation data, the (2) coding and (3) the subsequent assessment of the data and the resulting derivation of the theory, consequently the hypotheses defined in accordance with the research question and described above in the design of the methodology.

2.6.   Consideration of Objectivity, Reliability and Validity:

Ultimately, the handling of the mentioned limitations can be measured by checking the validity and reliability. In conclusion, a few words should therefore be used in this section on how the factors were dealt with, which were dealt with for the quality assurance of data obtained in particular through qualitative empirical methods and the resulting theory formation. Even if the goal of an exact measurement process is certainly not fully achieved in any empirical survey, the reliability and the validity, divided into the validity of the content, the criterion and the construct, can be examined. Other authors speak by dividing the validity into internal, external and that of the construct (Levitt et al., 2018), while others emphasizes objectivity as a quality criterion for a measurement on a structural level with validity and reliability (Oplatka, 2009). In addition, there is a distinction in the literature between ‘internal’ and ‘external’ validity, which is closely linked to the aforementioned triad of validity types. For this work, the following factors should therefore be examined:

1. Objectivity;
   1. Reliability;
   1. Internal validity;
   1. External validity; and
   1. Construct validity.

It is not intended to repeat all of the measures that were taken to guarantee these factors, but to create an overview that shows the considerations that guided the author of this study.

• Objectivity

The objectivity of an investigation, in the case of social science, in particular empirical qualitative investigations, which work with the methodology observation, exists when other researchers can provide the same results in the same investigation and do not come to completely different results (McDonald et al., 2014). The intersubjective verifiability can be ensured in particular by the transparency of the research design, standardization of the procedure and the regulated documentation (Keusch et al., 2020). This appears to the author to be of the greatest importance, especially with the instrument of observation, where a complete transcription cannot be available

here (which in the case of an observation would ultimately correspond to a complete film recording of the observed time).

As a result, the author tries to present all considerations, rules for recording processes, transcription and then also the step-by-step data analysis in such a way that repetition is possible at any time and analysis of the data material presented is possible with the same means.

• Reliability

The criterion of reliability is closely linked to that of objectivity. It addresses the question of whether repeating the analysis of the empirical results of a specific case through observations would lead to the same result. In addition to the measures already taken to ensure complete transparency and documentation, both of the complete database and the detailed procedure in the data analysis, the other considerations specifically relating to this factor should be presented here.

Some researchers suggest that a second person should be involved in the measurement of reliability, who was not involved in the research design and was also not part of the project in the context of data collection (Lombard et al. 2002). Within the scope of this project, every step of the coding within the data analysis was discussed with other people and thus questioned.

• Internal Validity

The internal validity is also closely linked to the so-called ‘validity of the content’ and is present if the operationalization of the variables in a logical, causal relationship to the results (Creswell & Poth, 2016). These considerations are taken into account in the conception and the choice of methodology, but also within the analysis and the presentation of the same, as well as the presentation of the results, in which a constant reference is made to the relationships of the variables and the raw data.

• External validity

The relationship of the examined facts and in particular the resulting theory to the examined object and their validity beyond the examined object is the focus of the examination of the external validity (Calder, Phillips, & Tybout, 1982). Due to the research question and the exploratory, hypothesis-generating character of the study, no statistical generalization can be expected, as would be the case with a quantitative design. Nevertheless, the measures for the repeatability of

the study already described above, as well as the number of cases of 32 school principals and the same conditions in each case, show that an attempt was made to achieve the highest possible degree of external validity. It is therefore the author’s view that analytical generalization can be allowed.

• The findings’ validity:

The validity of the findings is certainly of great importance in social science researches, as it is more meaningful and more frequently applicable than the content and criterion validity (Petty, Thomson, & Stew, 2012). Here the relationship, but also the quality of the operationalization is in the light of the relationship between the theoretical construct (or constructs) and the theory and the use of the measuring instrument, i.e. the data collection and the valid recording of the actual theoretical relationships (Moser & Korstjens, 2018). In addition, the relationship between all factors and in particular the variables as well as the raw data, their compression and the resulting logic of argumentation are made transparent. Based on this, the first hypotheses were derived which are supposed to explain the relationships within the construct, which are then operationalized and checked and ultimately presented in combination with the generated hypotheses by the exploratory procedure for further checking. This underpins the recommendation that a high degree of validity of the construct is established when the theoretical relationships between variables and constructs are established, empirical relationships exist between operationalization and construct and the relationship between the empirical knowledge and the hypotheses or their support of the constructs are examined.

The informative value of the data (especially from the observation), can be strengthened by using triangulation with other data sources is used in this research, where the role of observations is to complement the data analysis of the questionnaires. In the present case, as described above, a triangulation was also used to increase the validity.

2.7.   Summary:

This research is using the two methods of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and it compares the results of each in order to avoid any research mistake. The quantitative content analysis is used to analyze the questionnaire data collected from 314 Arab-Israeli teachers. The

qualitative method will be used to analyze questionnaires collected from 33 principals from the same schools. In addition, the author would conduct “Structured Observations”.

The combined methods used are reflected in the following sections. The combination has the following goal: the individual methods complement each other in terms of the knowledge gained with regard to a research subject that has not yet been researched.

The results are linked accordingly. In the phase of instrument development, the data collection methods used – quantitative content analysis, and qualitative structured observations – are strongly methodologically and practically linked. With regard to the timing, there is a sequential connection. The first phase involves content analysis of the data gathered from the standardized questionnaires. In the next step, the analysis of the principals standardized questionnaires based on a qualitative analysis, and finally the “Structured Observations” are carried out and compared to the results from the other two methods.