Germà Coenders

Effect on Prices of the Attributes of Holiday Hotels: A Hedonic Prices Approach

This article examines the effect on price of different characteristics of holiday hotels in the sun-and-beach segment. The effect on price is estimated under the hedonic function perspective by means of random effect models, known also as mixed or panel models. Some 82,000 prices were gathered between 1991 and 1998 from tour operator catalogues. The study reveals huge price differences between 4-star hotels and the rest, coupled with practically no difference between 1-star and 2-star hotels. Other attributes with a significant effect on price are town, hotel size, distance to the beach and availability of parking place. The results can assist hotel managers in shaping pricing and investment strategies.

Análisis factorial confirmatorio. Su utilidad en la validación de cuestionarios relacionados con la salud

Researchers who use questionnaires in the health sciences tacitly base themselves (often inadvertently) in Classical Test Theory, the suppositions of which are unrealistic and frequently violated, leading to defective evaluation of the reliability and validity of the instrument.The present article emphasizes the need for precise definition of essential terms of measurement (reliability and validity) by clarifying the deficiencies that traditional methodology incurs in their use. The limitations of evaluation of reliability through Chronbachs alpha and laxity in quantitative evaluation of validity through exploratory factor analysis are described. As an alternative, a sequential and integrated approach to validity and reliability within the framework of confirmatory factor analysis models is proposed. These models provide the appropriate statistical framework to evaluate the validity and reliability of each item, instead of carrying out overall evaluations only. The confirmatory approach guides researchers to optimize the process of designing or adapting a questionnaire, freeing them from the largely unfounded ritual laid down by classical methodology.

Alternative approaches to structural modeling of ordinal data: a Monte Carlo study

In practice, several measures of association are used when analyzing structural equation models with ordinal variables: ordinary Pearson correlations (PE approach), polychoric and polyserial correlations (PO approach), and conditional polychoric correlations (CPO approach). In the case of structural equation models without latent variables, the literature has shown that the PE approach is outperformed by the alternatives. In this article we report a Monte Carlo study showing the comparative performance of the aforementioned alternative approaches under deviations from their respective assumptions in the case of structural equation models with latent variables when attention is restricted to point estimates of model parameters. The CPO approach is shown to be the most robust against nonnormality. It is also robust to randomness of the exogenous variables, but not to the existence of measurement errors in them. The PO approach lacks robustness against nonnormality. The PE approach lacks robustness against t...

A New Approach to Evaluating the Quality of Measurement Instruments: The Split-Ballot MTMM Design

Two distinctly different quantitative approaches are used to evaluate measurement instruments: the split-ballot experiment and the multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) approach. The first approach is typically used to indicate whether variation in the method causes differences in the response distribution; the second approach evaluates the reliability and validity of different methods. The new approach, suggested in this paper, combines the more attractive features of both methods. The strength of the split-ballot experiment is its use of independent random samples from the same population to provide information about differences in response distributions. This is also possible with the new approach, but this approach provides more detailed information about the reasons

Estimating the reliability and validity of personal support measures: full information ML estimation with planned incomplete data

Egocentered networks are common in social science research. Here, the unit of analysis is a respondent (ego) together with his/her personal network (alters). Usually, several variables are used to describe the relationship between egos and alters. In this paper, the aim is to estimate the reliability and validity of the averages of these measures by the multitrait–multimethod (MTMM) approach. This approach usually requires at least three repeated measurements (methods) of the same variable (trait) for model identification. This places a considerable burden on the respondent and increases the cost of data collection. In this paper, we use a split ballot MTMM experimental design, proposed by Saris (1999), in which separate groups of respondents get different combinations of just two methods. The design can also be regarded as having a planned missing data structure. The maximum likelihood estimation is used in the manner suggested by Allison (1987) of a confirmatory factor analysis model for MTMM-designs specified in Saris and Andrews (1991). This procedure is applied to social support data collected in the city of Ljubljana (Slovenia) in the year 2000.

Predicting random level and seasonality of hotel prices: a latent growth curve approach.

This article examines the effect on price of different characteristics of holiday hotels in the sun-andbeach segment, under the hedonic function perspective. Monthly prices of the majority of hotels in the five major tourist regions in the Spanish continental Mediterranean coast were gathered from May to October 1999, from the tour operator catalogues. Hedonic functions are specified as random-effect models and parameterized as structural equation models with two latent variables, a random peak season price and a random width of seasonal fluctuations. This model can be considered to be a latent growth curve model applied to seasonality rather than growth. Characteristics of the hotels were used as predictors of both latent variables in models fitted for each region separately. Hotel category, region, distance to the beach, availability of parking place, and room equipment have an effect on both peak price and seasonality. Three-star hotels have the highest seasonality and hotels located in the southern regions the lowest. This can be explained by a warmer climate in autumn in the southern regions. The model is fitted to the pooled data of all regions and expanded to include the effect of climate on prices.

Reliability and validity of egocentered network data collected via web: A meta-analysis of multilevel multitrait multimethod studies

Abstract Our goal in this article is to assess reliability and validity of egocentered network data collected through web surveys using multilevel confirmatory factor analysis under the multitrait multimethod approach. In this study, we analyze a questionnaire of social support of Ph.D. students in three European countries. The traits used are the frequency of social contact questions. The methods used are web survey design variants. We consider egocentered network data as hierarchical; therefore, a multilevel analysis is required. Within and between-ego reliabilities and validities are defined and interpreted. Afterwards, we proceed to a meta-analysis of the results of the three countries where within and between-ego validities and reliabilities are predicted from survey design variables which have to do with question order (by questions or by alters), response category labels (end labels or all labels) and lay-out of the questionnaire (graphical display or plain text). Results show that question order by questions, all-labeled response categories and a graphical display lay-out with images lead to a better data quality. Our basic approach consisting on multilevel and meta-analysis can be applied to evaluate the quality of any type of egocentered network questionnaire, regardless of the data collection mode.

Fit of Different Models for Multitrait-Multimethod Experiments

In the past, several models have been developed for the estimation of the reliability and validity of measurement instruments from multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) experiments. Suggestions have been made for additive, multiplicative and correlated uniqueness models, whereas recently Coenders and Saris (2000) suggested a procedure to test these models against one another. In this article, the different models suggested for the analysis of MTMM matrixes have been compared for their fit to 87 data sets collected in the United States (Andrews, 1984; Rodgers, Andrews, & Herzog, 1992), Austria (Koltringer, 1995), and the Netherlands (Scherpenzeel & Saris, 1997). As most variables are categorical, the analysis has been carried out on the basis of polychoric-polyserial correlation coefficients and of Pearson correlations. The fit of the models based on polychoric correlations is much worse than the fit of models based on product moment correlations, but in both cases a model that assumes additive method effects fits most data sets better than the other models, including the so-called multiplicative models.

Greenways: a sustainable leisure experience concept for both communities and tourists.

This paper reviews the development of greenways/car-free trails as an alternative environmentally friendly communication system and assesses their strengths and weaknesses. It gives the results of a questionnaire survey of 1261 users along a 106-km greenway in Spain linking the Pyrenees with the Mediterranean Sea. Unlike previous studies, sampling was random and unequal probabilities of selection were properly accounted for. The results show a complex range of user profiles, tourist and non-tourist, their perceptions of the trail and some of the direct and indirect impacts of the greenway on the communities through which it passes. Management recommendations flowing from the survey are presented with the aim of increasing the use of accommodation services and businesses in the towns and villages near the greenway and helping create a more sustainable tourism system. The paper illustrates the potential importance of greenways in a future low-carbon tourism strategy adapting to climate change.

Estimation of the European Customer Satisfaction Index: Maximum Likelihood versus Partial Least Squares. Application to Postal Services

Customer satisfaction and retention are key issues for organizations in todays competitive market place. As such, much research and revenue has been invested in developing accurate ways of assessing consumer satisfaction at both the macro (national) and micro (organizational) level. Since the instigation of the national customer satisfaction indices (CSI), partial least squares (PLS) has been used to estimate the CSI models in preference to the maximum likelihood approach (ML) to structural equation models because they do not rely on strict assumptions about the data. However, this choice was based upon some misconceptions about the use of ML and does not take into consideration more recent advances, including estimation methods that are robust to non-normality and missing data. In this paper, both ML and PLS approaches were compared by evaluating perceptions of the Isle of Man Post Office Products and Customer service using a CSI format. The new ML procedures were found to be advantageous over PLS as they are both robust and unbiased while PLS are robust but biased. PLS should be used only in soft modelling situations (i.e. small sample sizes, weak theory and large numbers of variables), which are far from the CSI research practice.