A major focus for research in preparation programs should be on the practice of administration. For some time, the preparation of educational administrators has been rooted in the traditional liberal arts approach--the approach of a discipline--as a model for preparing the practitioner. Emphasis has shifted to the concept of the accurate identification/diagnosis of the problem and correct assessment of the results and application of research-based knowledge. The research emphasis leans toward decision-making and improvement of practice, although it may relate practice to theory. Examples of dissertation research are provided to demonstrate the problem of translating practice into the theories that seem best suited to explain or describe the problem phenomenon. The problem is not singularly the focus of research, but extends to current faculty untrained in research on practice, to preparation programs, and to faculty who are not active researchers. Appended are preliminary considerations of research issues in educational administrator preparation, a figure of research elements, and a figure of the "5 Strands" preparation program. (19 references) (SI)