Chang-ming Hsieh

Counting importance: The case of life satisfaction and relative domain importance

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the use of relative domain importance as a weighting mechanism at the individual level improved the correlation between the global life satisfaction and domain satisfaction measures. Results from telephone interviews with adults 50 years old or above in Chicago suggest that compared to simple average of domain satisfactions, using discrete domain importance rating as a weighting factor did not improve the correlation between global life satisfaction measure and domain satisfactions. However, the correlation was improved by using domain ranking. The findings suggest that the weighted average of domain satisfactions using domain ranking is a better indicator of global life satisfaction than the simple sum or average of domain satisfactions.

Gender Differences in Social Service Needs of Transgender People

Abstract Transgender people are socially, economically, and demographically diverse. Previous studies, however, have not addressed the gender differences of transgender people with regard to their social service needs. Analyzing data from needs assessment surveys conducted in Philadelphia and Chicago, this study explored gender differences in social service needs of 184 transgender people. The results show that four of the reported needs for social services (job training, legal services, housing, and welfare benefits) did not differ significantly between Male-to-Female (MTF) and Female-to-Male (FTM) respondents. Gender difference in the need for counseling could be accounted for by education and the city in which surveys were conducted. Significant gender differences were identified in the needs for parenting skills, family planning and child care, however. FTM respondents had significantly higher levels of need for these services than MTF respondents, and the significant gender differences remained even after controlling for age, race, education, city, income, living arrangement, unemployment status, and parenting status.

Incorporating Perceived Importance of Service Elements Into Client Satisfaction Measures

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the need for incorporating perceived importance of service elements into client satisfaction measures. Method: A secondary analysis of client satisfaction data from 112 clients of an elderly case management setting was conducted. Results: This study found that the relationship between global client satisfaction and the composite of satisfaction with service elements differed significantly, depending on perceived importance of service elements. Conclusions: These results call into question the practice of simply adding or averaging scores from satisfaction items to produce global satisfaction scores without considering perceived importance of the service elements.

Importance Counts: The Role of Relative Importance of Service Elements in Client Satisfaction Measures

ABSTRACT It is not uncommon for social work service providers, researchers, and evaluators to develop measures to obtain client satisfaction data relevant to their particular service settings. These measures are often constructed through a set of (usually Likert-type) satisfaction rating response items for each of the service elements relevant to their settings. Scores from these multiple items are then either summed or averaged to produce global satisfaction scores. By summing or averaging satisfaction scores across all items, one implicitly assumes that all survey items that represent various service elements carry equal weight. This assumption of equal weight is somewhat counterintuitive because individual clients may perceive certain survey items or service elements to be more important, or carry more weight, than others. Analyzing data from interviews with 112 clients of an elderly case management service agency in a large city in the Midwest region of the United States, this study examined this equal weight assumption in an elderly case management service setting. Results indicated that not all service elements were considered equally important, which called into question the common practice of summing or averaging satisfaction scores of various service elements to represent global client satisfaction.

Perceived Importance of Service Elements in Client Satisfaction Measures

ABSTRACT Many evaluators or service providers develop their own client satisfaction measures using satisfaction rating items representing service elements specific to the service settings. Global satisfaction scores are then produced by summing these item scores while assuming an equal contribution of all items. One approach to overcome evidence against this assumption is importance weighting, which is achieved by considering both item satisfaction and item importance in measuring overall satisfaction. Unfortunately, the adequacy of importance weighting in client satisfaction measures is not well understood. This study assessed the adequacy of importance weighting. Analyzing data from a previous client satisfaction survey with 110 older adults, the current study found that the relationship between global client satisfaction and the sum of satisfaction scores across service elements was dependent upon the patterns of respondents’ perceived importance of service elements. These results provide support for importance weighting and suggest the need for incorporating perceived importance of service elements in measuring overall client satisfaction.

Beyond Multiplication: Incorporating Importance into Client Satisfaction Measures.

Objective: This article brings the discussions on incorporating perceived importance across study areas into the study of client satisfaction and cautions the use of multiplicative scores (multiplying satisfaction and importance scores) as a weighting method. An alternative weighting method is provided. Method: Analyze data from a client satisfaction survey of 103 clients of a publicly funded elderly case management service unit located in a large U.S. Midwest region city. Results: The alternative weighted score correlated higher with all the global client satisfaction measures than the multiplicative score. Conclusion: Using multiplicative scores to represent global client satisfaction should be avoided. The proposed alternative weighting method is a reasonable way to incorporate perceived importance to represent global client satisfaction.

Synthesis of Indicators Through Weighting: The Experiences of Quality of Life Measures

Development and construction of synthetic indicators for socioeconomics inevitably face the very same concern confronting many quality of life (QOL) measures for individuals: how to account for potential societal, cultural and individual differences in values associated with different sectors, facets or domains represented by different indicators. In QOL research, a common approach is to use weighting to reflect the potential individual differences in values associated with different facets or domains of life. Also known as importance weighting in QOL literature, researchers capture individual differences in values, using relative importance of different facets or domains of life with the assignment of weights. Although using importance weighting to capture relative importance of various life facets or life domains appears straightforward, there are a number of conceptual and methodological issues that remain unsettled. In this chapter, major issues related importance weighting in QOL measures are discussed to provide implications for developing and constructing synthetic indicators.

A Client Satisfaction Measure of Homecare Services for Older Adults

ABSTRACT Client satisfaction can be used as an indicator for service quality. Without concrete feedback from clients, however, the usefulness of client satisfaction data for service improvement can be limited. This study described the development of a client satisfaction measure that can be used to provide concrete feedback for service providers. Based on a conceptual framework proposed in the literature, the Client Satisfaction: Home Care (CSAT-HC) uses a client-centered perspective to measure client satisfaction for homecare services for older adults. A survey of 200 older adults receiving homecare services provided by a social service agency in a large U.S. Midwest city was conducted to assess the psychometric properties of CSAT-HC. Results based on the 156 completed surveys show that CSAT-HC has good validity (correlation r = .62 with a popular client satisfaction measure) and test-retest reliability (r = .75). These results indicate that CSAT-HC is a valid and reliable client satisfaction measure; and therefore, providers of homecare services for older adults can use CSAT-HC to obtain client feedback for quality assurance or program evaluation purpose. Future research may use CSAT-HC to explore the potential influences of quality of homecare services on the well-being of older adult clients.