Showing papers on "Quality (business) published in 1980"

Variations in Decision Makers' Use of Information Sources: The Impact of Quality and Accessibility of Information.

Abstract: In a field study, decision makers were found to choose information sources based on accessibility rather than quality. Some variation in source use was associated with individual characteristics su...

The Criteria and Standards of Quality

Abstract: Spend your few moment to read a book even only few pages. Reading book is not obligation and force for everybody. When you don't want to read, you can get punishment from the publisher. Read a book becomes a choice of your different characteristics. Many people with reading habit will always be enjoyable to read, or on the contrary. For some reasons, this the criteria and standards of quality tends to be the representative book in this website.

Collaboration and the Quality of Research

Abstract: Does collaboration improve the quality of scientific research? Editorial decision on papers submitted to a leading social psychology journal was cross-classified by number of authors. A small relationship in the predicted direction was obtained and it persisted in the face of two relevant controls.

A Two-Person Game of Information Transmission

Abstract: We consider a statistical decision problem faced by a two player organization whose members may not agree on outcome evaluations and prior probabilities. One player is specialized in gathering information and transmitting it to the other, who takes the decision. This process is modeled as a game. Qualitative properties of the equilibria are analyzed. The impact of improving the quality of available information on the equilibrium welfares of the two individuals is studied. Better information generally may not improve welfare. We give conditions under which it will.

Housing the Elderly Residential Quality and Residential Satisfaction

Abstract: Data from over 12,000 elderly-headed households interviewed for the Annual Housing Survey are analyzed in terms of (a) identifying subgroups of the elderly in need of housing-related services, (b) specifying the elements of housing quality and neighborhood attributes most salient to residential satisfaction, and (c) exploring more general questions in the study of person-environment relationships. Results indicated that the black aged, rural-area residents, and renters had greatest housing need. While subjective housing quality was related to objective quality indicators, the two aspects of environment were quite disparate. Evidence was found that residential satisfaction is incremental, depending on a large number of possible contributors to perceived quality, few of which are overwhelmingly stronger than others. Adequacy of heating was somewhat more important than other housing indicators and fear of crime somewhat more important than other neighborhood attributes (particularly in high-risk subgroups).

What are the issues

Abstract: The population quality is defined here as the overall qualitative functioning of the population that signifies its social economic and cultural growth and products. In studying the population quality rigorous scientific methods should be adopted along with 2 new perspectives: "incubation" in a genetic sense and "satisfaction." Somatological attributes as well as vital statistics constitute primary concerns of the study. The mere cross sectional statistical treatment of the data however is not satisfactory. Interrelations between quality factors and the population which serves both as producers and consumers should be examined. Interrelations between human reproductions and material reproductions should also be investigated. The population quality is not always externalized but is latent as a causal factor for the sociocultural and economic phenomena. It may be dormant in what is inherited as population energy or population resources. The review of Japanese publications on population quality suggests the need for updating the prewar data on marriages/divorces. The topics for the 1st Japanese symposium on population quality appropriately included births deaths genetics health nutrition education and marriage but more study could be done on divorce. Japanese psychologists are also yet to be involved in the study of population quality.

A question of quality : the higher education ratings game

Abstract: Studies concerning attributes of quality in higher education as defined in academic studies are reviewed Separate reviews are presented for studies of quality at the graduate level, in professional programs, and at the undergraduate level Academe's continuing attempts to quantify "quality" so as to measure it empirically rather than subjectively through reputational ratings are examined In addition, accreditation and state program review, both of which exemplify external approaches to assessing quality in American higher education, are discussed In academic studies, usually conducted by researchers from the higher education community, assessments have focused on identifying the best institutions (or graduate departments) It is concluded that whether based on peer review or on the application of a set of traditionally-used quantifiable indicators, such assessments ignore about 99 percent of the nation's higher education institutions It is suggested that these rankings serve to reinforce the hierarchical structure of the system, whereby material and human wealth tend to be concentrated in a few institutions It is also noted that the teaching-learning function cf higher education has been virtually ignored in quality assessments Conclusions and recommendations as to how quality in higher education might be better defined and how methods of assessing quality might be improved are presented A bibliography is included

Optimal and Logical Quality: Two Neglected Aspects of the Quality of Health Services

Abstract: Many current quality assurance programs aim at maximizing the quality of health services instead of optimizing it, because they rest on the erroneous "best to all" approach, which overemphasizes the scientific and technical aspects of quality. The result is prohibitively expensive "Cadillac care." It is suggested that the optimal qualitative level can be identified by answering a chain of hierarchical questions beginning with the relevance of medical care to the solution of the problem at hand and ending with such detailed questions as what diagnostic procedures should be performed by whom, and with what technique. Using the functional definition of quality applied in industrial quality control, a mathematical model is developed to illustrate the relative nature of the concept of quality and its implications for quality assurance programs. Special attention is paid to logical quality, i.e., the efficacy with which information is used in arriving at decisions.

Pseudo Research in Marketing: The Case of the Price/Perceived‐Quality Relationship

Abstract: Comments on the commonly‐observed phenomenon that people frequently judge the quality of a product by its price, assuming that the most expensive item is better, and discusses the reasons for this and its implications. Discusses a typical experiment in which university students were given a set of cards, each card with a description of a product and its price, then asked to choose which product they thought they would buy if they had the choice — analysis showed whether, all things being equal, they were more likely to buy the expensive product. Assesses the results of this and discusses them in depth. Concludes this research programme is exceptional in providing so few results but argues against critics.

The Determinants of Consumer Complaints

Abstract: While the rationale for conventional rate-of-return regulation has recently come into question, regulation designed to protect consumers by altering product quality has blossomed. In 1973, for example, eighteen major consumer bills were considered by Congress, among them requirements covering questions of product labelling, unit pricing, and truth in advertising. Currently there are 26 consumer offices scattered throughout the federal government, and over 200 city and state offices. In this paper, I try to explain variance in consumer complaints across different types of products. The tendency of consumers to complain about some products and not others is assumed to depend on some characteristics of both the industry producing that product and the people consuming it. The hypotheses generated are tested using data from the New Haven area. This paper is a first, exploratory study into the economic determinants of consumer complaints.

Urban Runoff Quality: Information Needs

Abstract: Current perceptions of runoff water quality viewed by government and by university and private scientists tend to be limited to immediate and pressing regulatory requirements. As a consequence, the...

The Quest for Quality: An Exploration of Attempts to Define and Measure Quality Nursing Care

Abstract: Summary In summary, I advocate continued development of measurement in- struments and criteria, conceptual frameworks applicable for the study of quality, and innovative approaches for delineation of target populations such as trials with tracer methodology. Bailit et al. (1975)state that the most important factor in improvement of the quality of care is that quality is, in fact, being evaluated. It is hoped that continued work will produce findings which can lead us to quality in practice.