The target population for this research will include all County Extension Directors (CEDs), Extension Educators (EEs), and administrators involved with the Pennsylvania State Cooperative Extension (PSCE). A criterion-based sample will be identified who are assumed to be knowledgeable about the future roles of CEDs based on the selection criteria listed below. Since the Delphi technique is central to the inquiry of the future roles of CEDs in the PSCE, random or representative sampling will not be preferred because the researcher’s major concern is not to generalize the findings of the study to broad population. Rather, it is to capture the imagination of the experts’ opinion and maximize the discovery of the homogeneous patterns and problems that occur in the changing administrative and supervisory roles of the CEDs (Erlandson, et al., 1993). Thus, the sample will be selected from a population frame listing CEDs, EEs and administrators engaged in Extension in the PSCE, who have important and valuable knowledge about the roles and functions of CEDs, and have had five or more years in administrative or supervisory experience in the PSCE. The sample will include 15 CEDs and 15 EEs, respectively from the 59 CEDs and 273 EEs in Pennsylvania. This sample size is due to limited resources and time that make it impractical to study the entire population even though the key is more for quality than quantity, and for information richness than information volume (Patton, 1990). Other accessible and relevant categories of experts will include 15 administrators from the following categories: 4 Regional Directors (RDs), 1 State extension director (SED), Dean of Agriculture, Vice President Outreach, and 8 faculty members of the Agricultural and Extension Education (AEE) Department who have had previous extension appointments), and 15 stakeholders from (governmental and non-governmental agencies). Such a wide scope of participants will provide a more comprehensive perspective about the roles of CEDs. Additionally, this sampling procedure elicits the views of specific experts and provides evidence for the appropriateness and validity of constructs. A list of names will be obtained from the Human Resource Office of the PSCE in the College of Agricultural Sciences and put into categories as described below in the selection criteria process.
Participants will be expected to fulfill the following requirements:
1. Have a proven track record in professional Extension practice with backgrounds and experiences concerning the target issue.
2. Have considerable experience (5 or more years) as a CED or to have served in a leadership (supervisory or administrative) capacity in Extension.
3. Demonstrate continuing professional interest in Extension, particularly in imagining the future.
4. Evidently demonstrate the capacity to work in local and global communities.
5. Make an active contribution to the Extension needs of those they serve.
6. To be in the position to practically utilize the outcomes of the Delphi study.
