Journal of Iranian Social Studies

Abstract This study discusses decision-making as a social construction and utilizes qualitative network analysis. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 15 principals of public upper secondary schools in the city of Shiraz and were interpreted using thematic network analysis. The findings revealed that principals select agents and construct their advisory networks based on their lived experience and common sense. By constructing advisory networks, principals share the definition of the problematic situation with their networks. In this sharing, the mental meanings of principals are affected and changed by the ideas and mental meanings of other agents in networks. Principals make decisions with changed mental meanings. Therefore, principalsﹸ decisions are constructed within a network of relations. Also, findings showed that principals daily face with many problems that they have to decide to solve. So, principals have created   a creative space with their advisory network to be able to adapt to these issues. However, since principals have constructed a flexible structure through their constructing decisions which are not based on theory and are not independent of the will of agents; they are not able to clarify the identity of the problems. As a result, principals usually eliminate troubles temporarily in their decision constructing process,  and problems  remain unsolved.