Philosophy

Q4) The Path-Goal Theory
The path-goal leadership theory is a theory that was proposed by an American psychologist Robert House and it postulates that a leader must motivate subordinates by emphasizing the relationship between the subordinates own needs and the organizational goals. In addition, this theory also contends that a leader should clarify and facilitate the path subordinates must take to fulfill their own needs as well as the organizations needs (House, 1971).Clarifying the path may be by giving directives or vague hints. This theory was developed to reconcile prior findings and anomalies resulting from empirical investigations of the effects of leader task orientation and leader person orientation on subordinate satisfaction and performance. The essential notion that underlies the path-goal theory is that individuals in superior positions should be effective to the extent that they compliment the environment that their subordinates work by providing the necessary  cognitive working conditions  in order for them to attain work goals and at the same time experience intrinsic satisfaction .

According to House and Mitchell (1974), there are four types of leadership styles that can be used by a leader depending on the situation on ground and they are as follows.  (a) Supportive leadership-Here the leader creates a friendly working environment considering the need and welfare of the subordinates. It may include increasing self esteem and making the job more interesting for the workers. This style is best used when work is stressful or hazardous. (b)Directive leadership-This includes giving workers directives and appropriate guidance like issuing schedules of specific work to be done at specific times. This style can be used when the task to be done is unstructured and complex and the worker is inexperienced. (c)Participative leadership-this involves consulting workers and taking their ideas into consideration when making decisions and particular actions. It is best used when workers are experts and their advice is needed.(d)Achievement-oriented leadership-Here the leaders set high goals and expect the subordinates to have high level performances. Its best used when the task to be performed is complex. In relation with the dominant leadership paradigm of the time, the path goal theory is primarily a theory of task-person oriented supervisory behavior. It does not concern the leadership of entire oganisations, political behavior of leaders, and strategic leadership of organizations and the emergent informal leadership.

In conclusion the path-goal theory seeks to improve and ensure good leader-worker relationship only emphasizes the issues that affect the workers and their relationship with their seniors hence it does not totally look into any other part of the organization structure.

Q1) Steps in the research process
Hopkins (2009) defines research as any original and systematic investigation that is undertaken in order to increase knowledge and understanding and also to establish facts and principles. It encompasses the creation of new ideas and generation of new knowledge. He also goes ahead to define research as a process of creating new and unique knowledge which is specific to an applied field of study.

Basing on the fact that research is done in systematic manner there are several steps involved before it comes to completion and they involve the following

(a)Topic identification and development-This includes stating the topic of interest. This can be done using the question to which you want to find a solution and after stating, it has to be tested by using the main concept or key words by looking them up in the appropriate background sources.

(b)Finding background information-once the main topic has been identified, one or more sources of background information should be found to help in understanding the broader context of the research. Most common sources are books and general encyclopedias.

(c)Finding books about the topic-Books can be found by searching using keyword, by title and subject.

(d) Finding periodicals-they can be found using online databases obtain articles from magazines, journals and newspapers.

(e)Finding internet resources-This involves use of search engines and a subject directory to locate materials on the web and since information on the internet varies in reliability, Google scholar or encyclopaedia Brittanica online can be used for reliable sources.

(f)Evaluation of findings-This means critically analyzing the information sources you have identified to evaluate the authority and quality of resources that were earlier located.

(g)Citation of the material used-Credit has to be given where it is due by documenting the sources used in the research to allow hose who will read your work to duplicate it and be able to locate the sources. Citations should be given using MLA or APA format bearing in mind that representing other peoples work as yours is plagiarism (Hopkins, 2009).

In conclusion, researches being a systematic process, all the steps described above have to be followed critically in order to come up with a good successful and convincing end result.

Q2) Ways of determining reliability of a test
Reliability refers to the consistency of a test, survey, observation or any other measuring device. Normally a test is considered reliable if it gives the same results repeatedly. for example if a given test is designed to measure a certain trait, then each time the test is administered to a subject the results should be approximately the same. Although it is impossible to calculate reliability exactly, there are possible ways of estimating it two of which are discussed below (Kendra, 2010).

(a)Test-retest reliability. To gauge reliability, the test is administered twice at two different points in time and this is normally used to assess the consistency of a test across time. This type of reliability test assumes that there will be no change in the quality being measured. This method is best used for things that are stable over time like intelligence and reliability will always be higher when little time has passed between tests. If a test is administered twice and the same results are obtained, then the reliability coefficient will be 1.0.The correlation of measurements across time will normally be less than perfect due to different experiences and attitudes that respondents will have encountered the time of the first test. The test-retest method is a simple way of determining reliability but it is costly and impractical (Key, 1997).

(b)Inter-rater reliability. This type of reliability is assessed by having two or more independent people (raters) to score the given test after which the scores are compared to determine the consistency of the raters estimates. One way to carryout this test is to have each rater assign each test item a score. For example each rater might score items on a scale of 1-10 and then calculate the correlation between the two ratings to determine the level of inter-rater reliability. Another means of testing inter-rater reliability is by having the raters determine which category each observation falls and then calculate the percentage of agreement between the raters. For example if they agree 8 out of 10 times then the test will be said to have an 80 inter-rater reliability (Kendra, 2010).

In conclusion, different methods of testing reliability should be applied in any given test to obtain more accurate results because these methods usually have their disadvantages hence it requires one to use several of them in combination to obtain better results.