IDENTIFYING COMMUNITY LEADERS

Although many methods of measuring leadership have been developed in s ociological studies, there are few articles on the feasibility of thes e methods. The goal of this study was to verify the feasibility of the ''modified positional-reputational approach'' developed by Nix. The s tudy was conducted in a small community located north of Montreal. Nix 's questionnaire was translated, adapted and administered to 49 key in formants. Two hundred and fourteen leaders were selected. Three types of leaders were identified: the legitimizers, the effectors and the ac tivists. Through a sociometric analysis, we established links between the different leaders and we described the power structure of the comm unity. Despite a few shortcomings, Nix's approach was found extremely useful.