Church Organizational Culture: Construct Definition and Instrument Development

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to operationalize the construct, church organizational culture (COC), and to develop an instrument to measure the construct. In order to accomplish this goal, the researcher undertook a six-phase, mixed-methods study following accepted protocols for construct validation.

The six phases of this research study included precedent literature review; expert panel; modified Delphi study; instrument design; statistical analysis; and revisions to the survey. Pilot studies of the instrument were conducted at churches throughout the United States. The new instrument underwent statistical analysis for item correlation using exploratory factor analysis, for internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's Alpha, and for content validity using an online survey of the expert panel. While the original instrument did not pass statistical tests for validity and reliability, the study yielded a definition for the new construct of church organizational culture and laid the foundation for additional research and development of a model and instrument to measure the construct. The research process also revealed a related construct of church leadership culture (CLC) and produced a reliable basic survey to measure six dimensions of CLC.

KEYWORDS: Church, Organizational Culture, Instrument, Values, Leadership, Survey