Measuring student satisfaction ata

Measuring student satisfaction at
a UK university
Jacqueline Douglas, Alex Douglas and Barry Barnes
Faculty of Business and Law, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on the design and use of a questionnaire to measure
student satisfaction at Liverpool John Moores University’s Faculty of Business and Law.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilised the concept of the service-product bundle to
design the survey questionnaire and then used SPSS and Quadrant Analysis to analyse the results to
determine which aspects of the University’s services were most important and the degree to which
they satisfied the students.
Findings – The most important aspects were those associated with teaching and learning, while the
least important were those associated with the physical facilities.
Practical implications – The concept of the service-product bundle is a valid and reliable tool for
the design of a satisfaction survey and segments a University’s service offering in such a way as to
allow management to target resources at those areas that are perceived to be low satisfaction and high
importance. The questionnaire can be utilised in most education establishments.
Originality/value – Utilising the concept service-product bundle places responsibility for
questionnaire content and design firmly on the service provider rather than the user.
Keywords Service levels, Higher education, Students, Surveys, United Kingdom
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Students’ opinions about all aspects of academic life are now sought by educational
institutions worldwide, generally, in the form of a satisfaction feedback questionnaire.
It is this student satisfaction survey, within the context of Liverpool John Moores
Faculty of Business and Law that this paper addresses.
In the UK, Higher Education (HE) students were considered to be the “primary
customers” of a University (Crawford, 1991), even before they were liable for the
payment of “up-front” tuition fees. Students are the direct recipients of the service
provided, i.e. a three year degree programme made up of a number of modules at each
level. As if to confirm this status of the “student as customer”, the Higher Education
Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has introduced a National Student Survey. This
survey is aimed at final year students to seek their views on a number of aspects of
teaching, assessment and support provided by their university and its courses. The
results will ultimately be used by Government and Funding Bodies to produce league
tables of university performance. The position of a university in any league tables will
impact ultimately on its image. Image has a strong impact on the retention of current
students and the attraction of potential students (James et al, 1999). Indeed recruitment
and retention of students has been moved to the top of most universities’ agendas by
HEFCE due to their desire to increase the UK student population in line with
Government targets. Poor retention rates may have adverse funding consequences for
institutions (Rowley, 2003a). This paper takes the view that student satisfaction,
retention and recruitment are closely linked. Thus student satisfaction has become an
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0968-4883.htm
Measuring
student
satisfaction
251
Quality Assurance in Education
Vol. 14 No. 3, 2006
pp. 251-267
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/09684880610678568
extremely important issue for universities and their management. The aim is to try to
maximise student satisfaction, minimise dissatisfaction and therefore retain students
and so improve the institutions performance across a number of league tables.
A number of previous research studies (see for example, Galloway, 1998 and
Banwet and Datta, 2003) into student perceptions of quality/satisfaction have utilised
the SERVQUAL framework (Parasuraman et al., 1988). However, SERVQUAL has
been much criticised over the years (see for example, Buttle, 1996; Asubonteng et al.,
1996; Pariseau and McDaniel, 1997; Aldridge and Rowley, 1998). Taking these
criticisms into consideration the questionnaire used in the satisfaction survey asked
only for perceptions of performance of a range of service aspects (as well as
importance) but did not aim to collect data associated with expectations. Indeed, the
survey questionnaire was designed around the concept of the service-product bundle.
This concept is discussed in the next section.
The service-product bundle
The outcome of service delivery is a tangible product, and a “bundle” of goods and
services as the product offering (Sasser et al., 1978). The service-product bundle refers
to the inseparable offering of many goods and services including what Liverpool John
Moores University has to offer its students. This bundle consists of three elements:
(1) the physical or facilitating goods;
(

Kết quả (Việt) 1:

Đo sự hài lòng của sinh viên tạimột trường đại học UKJacqueline Douglas, Alex Douglas và Barry BarnesKhoa kinh doanh và luật, đại học Liverpool John Moores, Liverpool, Vương Quốc AnhTóm tắtMục đích-mục đích của giấy này là để báo cáo về việc thiết kế và sử dụng một bảng câu hỏi để đo lườngsự hài lòng của sinh viên tại Đại học Liverpool John Moores khoa kinh doanh và luật.Thiết kế/phương pháp/cách tiếp cận-giấy sử dụng khái niệm của các gói dịch vụ-sản phẩm đểthiết kế các câu hỏi khảo sát và sau đó sử dụng SPSS và góc phần tư phân tích để phân tích các kết quảxác định các khía cạnh nào của dịch vụ của trường đại học đã quan trọng nhất và mức độ màhọ hài lòng các sinh viên.Kết quả-những khía cạnh quan trọng nhất là những người liên quan đến với giảng dạy và học tập, trong khi cácquan trọng nhất là những liên kết với các cơ sở vật lý.Ý nghĩa thực tế-các khái niệm của các gói dịch vụ-sản phẩm là một công cụ hợp lệ và đáng tin cậy nhấtthiết kế của một cuộc khảo sát sự hài lòng và phân đoạn dịch vụ của một trường đại học cung cấp một cách là đểcho phép quản lý tới mục tiêu tài nguyên tại những khu vực mà là cảm nhận là sự hài lòng thấp và caotầm quan trọng. Các câu hỏi có thể được sử dụng trong hầu hết các cơ sở giáo dục.Độc đáo/giá trị-sử dụng các gói dịch vụ-sản phẩm khái niệm đặt trách nhiệm vềnội dung câu hỏi và thiết kế vững chắc trên các nhà cung cấp dịch vụ chứ không phải là người sử dụng.Keywords Service levels, Higher education, Students, Surveys, United KingdomPaper type Research paperIntroductionStudents’ opinions about all aspects of academic life are now sought by educationalinstitutions worldwide, generally, in the form of a satisfaction feedback questionnaire.It is this student satisfaction survey, within the context of Liverpool John MooresFaculty of Business and Law that this paper addresses.In the UK, Higher Education (HE) students were considered to be the “primarycustomers” of a University (Crawford, 1991), even before they were liable for thepayment of “up-front” tuition fees. Students are the direct recipients of the serviceprovided, i.e. a three year degree programme made up of a number of modules at eachlevel. As if to confirm this status of the “student as customer”, the Higher EducationFunding Council for England (HEFCE) has introduced a National Student Survey. Thissurvey is aimed at final year students to seek their views on a number of aspects ofteaching, assessment and support provided by their university and its courses. Theresults will ultimately be used by Government and Funding Bodies to produce leaguetables of university performance. The position of a university in any league tables willimpact ultimately on its image. Image has a strong impact on the retention of currentstudents and the attraction of potential students (James et al, 1999). Indeed recruitmentand retention of students has been moved to the top of most universities’ agendas byHEFCE due to their desire to increase the UK student population in line withGovernment targets. Poor retention rates may have adverse funding consequences forinstitutions (Rowley, 2003a). This paper takes the view that student satisfaction,retention and recruitment are closely linked. Thus student satisfaction has become anThe current issue and full text archive of this journal is available atwww.emeraldinsight.com/0968-4883.htmMeasuringstudentsatisfaction251Quality Assurance in EducationVol. 14 No. 3, 2006pp. 251-267q Emerald Group Publishing Limited0968-4883DOI 10.1108/09684880610678568extremely important issue for universities and their management. The aim is to try tomaximise student satisfaction, minimise dissatisfaction and therefore retain studentsand so improve the institutions performance across a number of league tables.A number of previous research studies (see for example, Galloway, 1998 andBanwet and Datta, 2003) into student perceptions of quality/satisfaction have utilisedthe SERVQUAL framework (Parasuraman et al., 1988). However, SERVQUAL hasbeen much criticised over the years (see for example, Buttle, 1996; Asubonteng et al.,1996; Pariseau and McDaniel, 1997; Aldridge and Rowley, 1998). Taking thesecriticisms into consideration the questionnaire used in the satisfaction survey askedonly for perceptions of performance of a range of service aspects (as well asimportance) but did not aim to collect data associated with expectations. Indeed, thesurvey questionnaire was designed around the concept of the service-product bundle.This concept is discussed in the next section.The service-product bundleThe outcome of service delivery is a tangible product, and a “bundle” of goods andservices as the product offering (Sasser et al., 1978). The service-product bundle refersto the inseparable offering of many goods and services including what Liverpool JohnMoores University has to offer its students. This bundle consists of three elements:(1) the physical or facilitating goods;(