Clarifying the dimensions of four concepts of quality

There has long been a relationship between ergonomics and quality, ranging from studies of ergonomics and total quality management to ergonomic studies of service quality. However, quality is a concept that lacks a clear and concise definition and is thus difficult to accurately measure, improve, or even compare across different industries, products and services. To better understand the concept dimensions of quality, a three-phase study was conducted. All participants in the study were native English speakers and over the age of 18. Phase One consisted of a questionnaire, given to 80 participants, which resulted in a list of 254 words/phrases related to the perceptions of: (1) quality, (2) product quality, (3) service quality and (4) quality of life. Phase Two required a new set of 80 participants to rank each word as negatively or positively related to one of the four types of quality tested in Phase One. A smaller set of 30 words was selected for each concept for additional study. Phase Three, given to 40 unique participants, consisted of a pair-wise comparison experiment of all combinations of the subset of words related to each of the four types of quality. Phase Three resulted in groupings of words related to primary factors for each of the four concepts of quality examined. These word groupings can be used to develop definitions and scales for the various quality concepts, so that ergonomists have more user-based measures of this important variable.

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