Generación opcional de sellos digitales

Demographic n % Demographic n %

Location Education

1. National 39 16.74% 2. Grade 12 19 8.15%

3. Limpopo 15 6.44% 4. Diploma25 41 17.60%

5. North West 17 7.30% 6. Degree 50 21.46%

7. Gauteng 131 56.22% 8. Honours

degreem/75 74 31.76%

9. Free State 2 0.86% 10. Masters

degree 43 18.45%

11. Eastern Cape 7 3.00% 12. Doctorate 6 2.58%

13. Western Cape 2 0.86% Public service _tenure

14. KwaZulu-Natal 2 0.86% 15. Less than 6

months 1 0.43%

16. Northern Cape 4 1.72% 17. 1–2 years 9 3.86%

18. Mpumalanga 14 6.01% 19. 3–5 years 25 10.73% Age 20. 6–10 years25 54 23.18% 21. 16–25 1 0.43% 22. More than 10 yearsm/75 144 61.80% 23. 26–34 35 15.02% Department Tenure 24. 35–4425/m 96 41.20% 25. Less than 6 months 4 1.72% 26. 45–5575 76 32.62% 27. 6 months–1 _year 3 1.29% 28. 56–64 25 10.73% 29. 1–2 years 20 8.58% Position 30. 3–5 years25 72 30.90%

31. Senior management 51 21.89% 32. 6–10 yearsm 58 24.89%

33. Middle management25/m/75 139 59.66% 34. > 10 years75 76 32.62% 35. Front-line supervisory capacity 43 18.45%

Notes: Honours in education includes an equivalent postgraduate diploma. 25 = 25th percentile, m = median, 75 = 75th percentile

The median age of the respondents was 35 to 44 years old and approximately 75% of the sample was 35 years old or older. This tied in with their management positions in that the vast majority of the respondents were in middle management (60%), with 22% in senior management positions. In general, most of the respondents at the front-line supervisory level (18.45%) were in the 26 to 34 year age category.

Approximately 75% of the sample had university degrees or better education, with an honours degree or its equivalent being the most common qualification

(32%). Eighteen percent of respondents had a master’s qualification and three percent had a doctorate. This indicates that the majority of the respondents who completed the survey were university graduates. The survey did not request the respondents to specify the qualification that they possessed. It is, therefore, unclear whether they possessed the relevant specialist qualification to operate within a particular department, for example, engineering, nursing and teaching degrees, or whether they had undergone any management or leadership training suitable for their management positions.

The majority of the sample had been employed for more than a decade in the public service (62%). Thus, the respondents were, on the whole, stable in terms of organisational experience, with fewer than 15% having been in the public service for less than three years. The fact that most of the respondents had been employed in the public service for more than ten years may indicate that they had an in-depth understanding of the critical strengths and challenges in their respective public service departments.

6.1.7

Methods of Data Analysis

Finding common themes in the description of the respondents’ experiences is the most appropriate method for the data analysis of a phenomenology study (Leedy and Ormrod, 2010:142). These themes were organised by identifying statements that pertained to the issue in question; grouping the statements into ‘meaning units’; searching for similar and divergent experiences among the respondents; and constructing an overall picture of the respondents’ experience of the spiritual leadership attributes (Leedy and Ormrod, 2010:142).

The qualitative data arising from the surveys were analysed by identifying common themes. The ordinal data were then analysed by means of coding and quantifying and determining the proportions and percentages to the responses in relation to the themes. The data were analysed using a Friedman K-Way related

ANOVA (Conover, 1999; Friedman, 1937; Friedman, 1940) and regression analysis.

In view of the fact that this study is situated within an interpretive paradigm, the study acknowledges that there is no single objective and universal truth (Kvale, 1996). Accordingly, the analysis and interpretation of data attempted to capture the multiplicity of meanings embedded in the perceptions of respondents, rather than to regard them as objective facts.

6.1.8

Validity and Reliability

The validity and reliability of the study was assured by adopting a multi-pronged approach.

The survey instrument was based on and adapted from existing proven instruments in an attempt to achieve construct validity (Leedy and Ormrod, 2010). The survey instrument was based on the following instruments designed by academics and practitioners in the field of spirituality and emotional intelligence:

• Fry et al. (2007) – Causal Model of Spiritual Leadership and survey questions

• Zohar and Marshall (2004) – The 12 Principles of Transformation • Cooper and Sawaf (1998) – Emotional intelligence questionnaire

• De Klerk-Weyer and Le Roux (2008) – Personal intelligences questionnaire In addition, a statistician assessed the survey instrument to determine the suitability and representativeness of the questions. Several questions were revised in order to improve both their face and content validity.

Methodological triangulation was employed to promote both reliability and validity (McMillan and Schumacher, 1993). The data were cross-checked using different data sets (interviews and questionnaires) and different types of respondents (public service managers, recipients of spiritual leadership training and service providers).

A pilot study was conducted to enhance the reliability and validity of the research instruments. The open- and closed-ended question survey instrument was piloted to 38 respondents, comprising 7% of the sample size. The pilot study served to uncover any ambiguous, leading and fictitious ordering questions (Mouton, 2004:103). A statistician was employed to determine the reliability and validity of the instruments. Statistical tests for reliability revealed that there was sufficient discrimination between the survey questions. The statistician reviewed the survey instrument by removing or refining certain questions so that the instrument would be more in line with the objectives of this study. For example, a question requesting the respondent's marital status was discarded. The statistician assisted in designing the online survey by, for example, introducing a sliding scale to indicate a precise percentage that reflects the respondent's opinion of the department's overall organisational performance.63 When the instrument was retested on nine of the same respondents on two different occasions, the results remained consistent.

6.1.9

Limitations of the Study

There are several limitations to this study that may impact on the extent to which this study may be generalised throughout the public service.

Firstly, despite the fact that it may be argued that a 42% survey response rate is generalisable, the data are not representative of all the provinces of South Africa.

63 _{The hardcopy survey was in turn adjusted accordingly. Refer to Question 20 in Appendix 5:}

Survey Questionnaire. The respondents had the option of reflecting a specific percentage such as 43%, instead of being confined to an interval scale