THE THEORY UNDERLYING THE STYLE OF MANAGEMENT INVENTORY, AN INSTRUMENT TO EXPLORE HOW ADMINISTRATORS PERCEIVE THEMSELVES WHILE FULFILLING CERTAIN FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT, WAS EXAMINED AND TESTED FOR INTERNAL CONSISTENCY. THE INSTRUMENT WAS THEN USED TO GATHER DATA TO STUDY THE LEADERSHIP STYLES OF PROBATION ADMINISTRATORS. THE DATA WERE OBTAINED FROM PROBATION OFFICIALS PARTICIPATING IN THE PROBATION MANAGEMENT INSTITUTES, A SERIES OF EIGHT REGIONAL PROGRAMS CONDUCTED THROUGHOUT THE U.S. FROM DECEMBER 1968 TO MAY 1970. INVITATIONS WERE SENT OUT TO 226 PROBATION AGENCIES OPERATING AT THE FEDERAL, STATE, COUNTY, AND CITY LEVEL; 92 AGENCIES SENT ADMINISTRATIVE TEAMS, SOME TO MORE THAN 1 REGIONAL INSTITUTE. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ARE OUTLINED, WITH ATTENTION TO RESEARCH ON CORRECTIONAL MANAGEMENT AND BASIC MANAGEMENT THEORIES. THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND SAMPLE ARE DISCUSSED ALONG WITH ITEM ANALYSIS AND MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALING. REVISIONS TO THE INVENTORY ARE SUGGESTED AND DETAILS ARE PROVIDED ON STANDARDIZING AND NORMALIZING THE DISTRIBUTIONS AND THE SEVEN DIMENSIONS QUESTIONNAIRE, A PARALLEL INSTRUMENT DEVELOPED TO MEASURE MANAGERIAL ORIENTATIONS SIMILAR TO THOSE MEASURED BY THE INVENTORY. THE REST OF THE STUDY IS DEVOTED TO THE EXPLORATION AND ANALYSIS OF SEVERAL HYPOTHESES FORMULATED IN THE AVAILABLE LEADERSHIP LITERATURE. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT MUCH MORE WORK MUST BE DONE IN ORDER TO DEVELOP SOUND THEORY AND CONSISTENT WAYS OF OPERATIONALIZING IT, SO THAT REAL ADVANCES CAN BE MADE IN THE STUDY AND RESEARCH ON MANAGERIAL AND LEADERSHIP AREAS. APPENDIXES INCLUDE THE QUESTIONNAIRE ON DEMOGRAPHIC AND ORGANIZATIONAL VARIABLES, THE SEVEN DIMENSIONS QUESTIONNAIRE, AND FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS OF SELECTED ORGANIZATIONAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES USED IN THE STUDY. GRAPHIC AND TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED, ALONG WITH REFERENCES AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY. (KBL)