| The purpose of this study was to examine, using a comparative analysis, the leadership ability, managerial skills, and decision-making skills of research administrators in the scientific research laboratories at public and private universities and at independent research laboratories. More specifically, this researcher also investigated the influences of type of research center, age, gender, years of experience, and geographical region, separate and combined, on the leadership practices of research administrators. A 2 x 2 x 3 and a 2 x 3 x 3 factorial design were employed in this investigation.;Six hundred twenty-nine research administrators from all sections of the United States were randomly selected to participate in this empirical study. An instrument entitled "The Leadership Practices Inventory-Self, LPI - Self" was used to collect the data. The investigative instrument was validated by panel of experts in Higher Education Administration. This instrument had an alpha reliability coefficient of .98 for the test as a whole.;Moreover, the data were treated through the application of the Three-Way Analysis of Variance and the Scheffe Post Hoc Test. Among the conclusions of this study were: research affiliation had a significant effect on the decision-making skills of research administrators; the older a research administrator the higher the level of his decision-making skills; and sex had no influence on the decision-making skills of research administrators. |
