Understanding student satisfaction and dissatisfaction: an interpretive study in the UK higher education context

Studies in Higher Education

Volumn 40, Issue 2, 2015, Pages 329-349

  Douglas, Jacqueline Ann ^a   Douglas, Alexander ^a   McClelland, Robert James ^a   Davies, John ^b  

^a LIVERPOOL JOHN MOORES UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

critical incident technique; determinants; higher education; service quality; students

Indexed keywords

EID: 84919837737     PISSN: 03075079     EISSN: 1470174X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2013.842217     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Athiyaman, A. 1997. Linking student satisfaction and service quality perceptions: the case of university education. European Journal of Marketing 31, no. 7: 528–40. doi: 10.1108/03090569710176655
2. Baker, M. 2010. US students start to question degree costs. BBC.co.uk, September 18. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11344228 (accessed March 16, 2012).
3. Biolos, J. 2002. Six sigma meets the service economy. Harvard Management Update, a newsletter from Harvard Business School Publishing, 7, no. 11 (November).
4. Bitner, M.J., B.H. Booms, and L.A. Mohr. 1994. Critical service encounters: The employee's viewpoint. Journal of Marketing, 58 (October): 95–106. doi: 10.2307/1251919
5. Bitner, M.J., B.H. Booms, and M. Stanfield Trenault. 1990. The service encounter: Diagnosing favourable and unfavourable incidents. Journal of Marketing 54 (January): 71–84. doi: 10.2307/1252174
6. Brūggen, E.C., B. Foubert, and D.D. Gremler. 2011. Extreme makeover: Short and long-term effects of a remodeled landscape. Journal of Marketing 75, no. 5: 71–87.
7. Campbell, D.T., and D.W. Fiske. 1959. Convergent and discriminant validity by the multi-trait multi-method matrix. Psychological Bulletin 56: 81–105. doi: 10.1037/h0046016
8. Carlzon, J. 1987. Moments of truth: New strategies for today’s customer-driven economy. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing.
9. Carlzon, J. 2006. What business leaders can learn from the moment of truth: An interview with former SAS CEO Jan Calzon. www.customerthink.com (accessed March 7, 2012).
10. stcentury: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: Sage.
11. Cherryholmes, C.H. 1992. Pragmatism and scientific realism. Educational Researcher 21, no. 6: 13–17. doi: 10.3102/0013189X021006013
12. Creswell, J.W. 2009. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approach. 3rd ed. California: Sage.
13. Danermark, B., M. Ekstrom, L. Jakobsen, and J.Ch. Karlsson. 2002. Explaining society: Critical realism in the social sciences. London: Routledge.
14. Dean, A.A. 2011. Improving the educational experience of HLST students in Higher Education. The Higher Education Academy York: Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network.
15. Denzin, N. 1989. The research act. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
16. Department for Business Innovation and Skills. 2010. “DfE: Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom 2010, 14th Edition of Education and Training Statistics.” Department for Education.http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000992/index.shtml (accessed November 30, 2011).
17. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. 2011, June 28. Higher education white paper: Students at the heart of the system. http://www.gov.uk/government (accessed September 25, 2013).
18. DeShields Jr, O.W., A. Kara, and E. Kaynak. 2005. Determinants of business student satisfaction and retention in higher education: Applying Herzberg's two-factor theory. International Journal of Educational Management 19, no. 2: 128–39.
19. Douglas, J., R. McClelland, and J. Davies. 2008. The development of a conceptual model of student satisfaction with their experience in higher education. Quality Assurance in Education XVI, no. 1: 19–35. doi: 10.1108/09684880810848396
20. Douglas, J.A., R. McClelland, J. Davies, and L. Sudbury. 2009. Using critical incident technique to capture the voice of the student. The TQM Journal 21, no. 4: 305–18. doi: 10.1108/17542730910965038
21. Downward, P.M., and Mearman, A. 2002. Critical realism and econometrics: Constructive dialogue with post Keynesian economics, Metroeconomica 53, no. 4: 391–495.
22. Downward, P.M., and A. Mearman. 2004. Presenting ‘demi-regularities’ of pricing behavior: The need for triangulation. In Contemporary post Keynesian analysis: A compendium of contributions to the Seventh International Post Keynesian Workshop, ed. M. Forstater and L.R. Wray. New York: Elgar.
23. Downward, P., and A. Mearman. 2006. Retroduction as mixed-methods triangulation in economic research: reorienting economics into social science. Cambridge Journal of Economics 1–23.
24. Eckel, P.D. 2008. Mission diversity and the tension between prestige and effectiveness: An overview of US higher education. Higher Education Policy 21: 175–92. doi: 10.1057/hep.2008.2
25. Eckel, P.D., and J.E. King. 2004. An overview of higher education in the United States: Diversity, access and the role of the marketplace. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.
26. Edvardsson, B., and I. Roos. 2001. Critical incident techniques: Towards a framework for analysing the criticality of critical incidents. International Journal of Service Industry Management 12, no. 3: 251–68. doi: 10.1108/EUM0000000005520
27. Edvardsson, B., and T. Strandvik. 2000. Is a critical incident critical for a customer relationship? Managing Service Quality 10, no. 2: 82–91. doi: 10.1108/09604520010318272
28. Fitzsimmons, J.A., and M.J. Fitzsimmons. 2004. Service management: Operations, strategy and information technology, 4th ed. New York: McGraw Hill.
29. Flanagan, J.C. 1954. The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin 51, no. 4: 327–58. doi: 10.1037/h0061470
30. Gremler, Dwayne D. 2004. The critical incident technique in service research. Journal of Service Research VII, no. 1: 65–89. doi: 10.1177/1094670504266138
31. Guba, E., and Y. Lincoln. 1994. Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In Handbook of Qualitative Research, ed. N.K. Denzin and S. Lincoln, 105–17. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
32. Herzberg, F., B. Mausner, and B.B. Snyderman. 1967. The motivation to work, 2nd ed. New York: Wiley.
33. Higher Education Funding Council for England. 2012. The Higher Education Funding Council for England. http://www.hefce.ac.uk/ (accessed March 5, 2012).
34. Huda, S., and A. Akhtar. 2010. Critical service encounters: The employee's viewpoint (a study on restaurant services in Dhaka City). Global Journal of Management and Business Research 10: 1.
35. Jick, T.D. 1979. Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods: triangulation in action. In Qualitative Methodology, ed. J. Van Manen. London: Sage.
36. Johnson, B., and L. Christensen. 2004. Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches, 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson, Allyn and Bacon.
37. Johnston, R. 1995. The determinants of service quality: satisfiers and dissatisfiers. International Journal of Service Industry Management 6, no. 5: 53–71. doi: 10.1108/09564239510101536
38. Kemppainen, J.K. 2000. The critical incident technique and nursing care quality research. Journal of Advanced Nursing 32, no. 5: 1264–71. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2648.2000.01597.x
39. LeBlanc, G., and N. Nguyen. 1997. Listening to the customer's voice: Examining perceived service value among business college students. International Journal of Educational Management 13, no. 4: 187–98.
40. Liamputtong, P. 2009. Qualitative research methods, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press.
41. Lizuka, Y. 2012. Is quality still alive in Japan? Quality World 38, no. 2: 24–29.
42. Lockshin, L., and G. McDougall. 1998. Service problems and recovery strategies: An examination of the critical incident technique in a business-to-business market. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management 26, no. 11: 429–38. doi: 10.1108/09590559810246395
43. Nair, C.S., M. Murdocj, and P. Mertova. 2011. Benchmarking the student experience: the offshore campus experience. The TQM Journal XXIII, no. 6: 585–97. doi: 10.1108/17542731111175211
44. National Student Survey. http://www.thestudentsurvey.com/ (accessed January 18, 2012)
45. Parasuraman, A., V.A. Zeithaml, and L.L. Berry. 1985. A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research. The Journal of Marketing 49, no. 4 (Autumn): 41–50. doi: 10.2307/1251430
46. Saunders, M., and P. Lewis. 2012. Doing research in business and management: An essential guide to planning your project. England: Prentice Hall, Pearson Education.
47. Saunders, M., P. Lewis, and A. Thornhill. 2009. Research methods for business students, 5th ed. England: Prentice Hall, Pearson Education.
48. Shih, Fu-Jin. 1998. Triangulation in nursing research: issues of conceptual clarity and purpose. Journal of Advanced Nursing 28: 631–41. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2648.1998.00716.x
49. Webb, E.J., D.T. Campbell, R.D. Schwartz, and L. Sechrest. 1966. Unobtrusive measure: Nonreactive measures in the social sciences. Chicago: Rand McNally.
50. Zineldin, M., H. Camgoz Akdag, and V. Vasicheva. 2011. Assessing quality in higher education: New criteria for evaluating students’ satisfaction. Quality in Higher Education 17, no. 2: 231–43. doi: 10.1080/13538322.2011.582796