The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 46, No. 1 - 36

Stephen A. Berg, Casey Graham Brown

Table 1
Testing Research Questions
Research question

Measures

Test

Is there a relationship between perceived level of
synergistic supervision received and role conflict?

SSS and Role
Conflict

Pearson Correlation

Is there a relationship between perceived level of
synergistic supervision received and role ambiguity?

SSS and Role
Ambiguity

Pearson Correlation

Is there a relationship between perceived level of
synergistic supervision received and intention to turnover?

SSS and MOAQ
Intention to Turnover

Pearson Correlation

Is there a relationship between perceived level of
synergistic supervision received and job satisfaction?

SSS and Job
Satisfaction

Pearson Correlation

Is there a relationship between job satisfaction of the
resident assistant and the job satisfaction of his or her
supervisor?

MOAQ Job Satisfaction
of RA and of RD

Pearson Correlation

Data Collection
Participants in this study were RAs and RDs
who supervised RAs from four four-year universities in two southwestern states. Senior
housing professionals at institutions that
were members of the Southwest Association
of College and University Housing Officers
were contacted and invited to participate in
the study. Snowball sampling was employed
as department directors recommended other
member institutions that they believed met
the parameters of the study. Access was not
granted by some of the recommended campuses due to university Institutional Review Board
policies or housing departments choosing not
to participate.
After director permission was received,
approval was sought from each university's
Institutional Review Board. Participating department directors were asked to provide the
email address for each RD and the RAs these
RDs supervised. Housing department directors were asked to forward a recruitment email
36

to prospective participants, who used the
emailed link to the survey to respond to the
survey questions. Separate survey links were
sent to RDs and RAs to complete. RAs who
were supervised by a specific RD were sent
a unique link to complete the survey so that
data of the supervisee and supervisor could be
linked together. The study included privately
and publicly funded institutions.
The instruments used in this study were
the Synergistic Supervision Scale (SSS), the
Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire's (MOAQ) Job Satisfaction and
Intention to Turnover scales, and the Role Conflict and Ambiguity Scale (RCAS). The SSS,
consisting of 22 items, was used to measure
the perception the RA has of their supervisor's
focus on both the needs of the institution and
of the RA's personal and professional goals
(Saunders et al., 2000). Responses were scored
from 1, never (or almost never) to 5, always (or
almost always). The SSS's internal consistency

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING
The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 46, No. 1

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