Satisfaction scales

Figure 14.9 Overall staff satisfaction. Scale 1 = strongly disagree 5 = strongly agree.

Brannan, A. M., Sonnichsen, S. E., Heflinger, C. A. (1996). Measuring satisfaction with children s mental health services Validity and reliability of the satisfaction scales. Evaluation and Program Planning, 19(2), 131-141. 

Besides the intake interview, which can help gather information, there are a number of assessment measures for determining the quality of an important interpersonal relationship. The questions on these measures generally ask about things like communication styles, satisfaction in the relationship, joint decision making, and in some cases, abusive behavior. Two of the most well-known measures are the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976) and the Marital Satisfaction Inventory (Snyder, 1979). Therapists and counselors also may choose to interview couples together (with the consent of client and partner), and some therapists may recommend couples therapy (see Chapter 5) as part of the overall approach to treatment if deemed appropriate to help the client. Relationship assessments can yield important information that may be useful when working with couples. 

Second, links can be asymmetric. That is, the impact of a change of one unit for an antecedent variable (e.g. the impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty) can vary depending on whether the change is an increase or decrease, and/or depending on whether the vendor firm currently operates above or below a specific scale point or reference point. Reference points arise when customers evaluate performance on the basis of relative performance and not absolute performance (Mittal, Ross, Baldasare, 1998). 

In some instances, an S-shaped relationship that captures both asymmetry and decreasing returns is proposed for the impact of attribute performance on customer satisfaction. Decreasing returns imply that the impact of changes in attribute performance on customer satisfaction is more consequential at the middle of the scale than at the extremes. And, because the impact of a change in performance at the lower end of the performance scale is thought to be more consequential than the same change at the upper end of the performance scale, an asymmetry exists. Anderson and Mittal (2000) define attributes that exhibit this relationship as satisfaction maintaining. In competitive industries, these attributes are the table stakes or the minimum a firm needs to provide to be even considered as a viable option by customers. 

The following transparencies are a series of statements. Each emphasizes one part of the important role of analytical measurements. They go without saying to an analytical chemist. Satisfaction of requirements is scale of quality. 

There are a number of technical solutions to the problems of positivity bias. One path for enhancing satisfaction studies lies in using expanded scales, such as 0 to 10 rating scales rather than 1 to 5 scales. While the expanded scales are not normally used in attitude assessment the careful labelling of each scale point can offer a route for enhancing the discriminatory power of a single satisfaction item. Typical scale point labels for a 0 to 10 scale would read ... 

Measurement issues also undermine the adequacy of the EDP model in some circumstances. It has been noted by Teas (1993) that when interval level scales are used to assess expectations and satisfaction, a performance expectation discrepancy of, for example, -2 (minus 2) can be realised in a number of ways. Working with a 7- point scale -2 may result when expectations were... 

At other times the field of tourist behaviour has a different purpose, approaching the margins of sociology and offering more interpretive qualitative and micro-scale insights into the phenomenon of tourism. The examples drawn from the material already considered in this volume include the role of the tourist, cross-cultural interaction and the expressive components of satisfaction study. 

Hazelrigg, L.E. and Hardy, M.A. (2000) Scaling the semantics of satisfaction. Social Indicators Research 49,147-180. 

The principal objective of the modern pharmaceutical industry is to manufacture pharmaceutical preparations presenting high quality, identity, purity, effectiveness, and innocuity in order to guarantee the satisfaction and safety of patients. The development of a new drug must involve the synthesis of a molecule, determination of its pharmacological activity, industrial-scale production, and its commercialization to guarantee quality of the final product. 

After the present translation had been printed, the allied reports on German and Japanese industry were made public. The authors noted to their satisfaction that the processes they described corresponded closely in many cases with those of the German dye factories. Certain large-scale industrial reactions can be reproduced only with difficulty in the laboratory with the small amounts of material at the chemist s disposal In our opinion, for example, it is practically impossible in the... 

You can use different assessment and rating schemes to determine which JTBDs should be a priority for innovation. One way to measure the importance of a job is by asking customers based on a Likert Scale (degree of importance to them), using sound sampling techniques. A Likert Scale can also work for assessing the level of satisfaction customers have with current solutions. 

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