This paper considers the study of stress in school principals from three perspectives. In the first of these reference is made to three critical reviews of studies which have revealed heavy dependence on data gathered via questionnaires and treated by correlational analysis, the inadequacy of conceptual frameworks, and wide variations in the definitions of stress. Acknowledgement is then made of several Australian studies through the 1980s and 1990s which have investigated stress in principals in situ through observation and observation plus physiological measurement. Finally, consideration is given to possible future methodologies that seek to address criticisms of stress research by acknowledging the place of both appropriate questionnaires and observation/physiological measures and suggesting how these may be productively combined.
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