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SERVQUAL is being used as a tool to measure service quality in almost every service industry. Doubts have been raised, however, about the fitness of this instrument to each service sector, and there have been criticisms on conceptual and empirical issues related to SERVQUAL. In some studies, SERVPERF is deemed to be more valid and reliable than SERVQUAL. In this study, the goal is to explore and compare the fitness of SERVQUAL and SERVPERF in higher-education services. This study was conducted in the faculty of business of a state university in Turkey with a sample of 421 students. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the model fit of SERVQUAL and SERVPERF. The results of this analysis support each of the five-dimensional service quality constructs with a greater support for SERVQUAL, which had an excellent model fit. In addition, SERVPERF and SERVQUAL measurements were found to have very close convergent validity and reliability scores. The tangibility dimension was found to have the lowest reliability and covariance scores, which may point to the lower relevancy of the tangibility dimension in the higher-education sector where there is high personal interaction. The researchers conclude that both of the service measurement scales have a good model fit and both can be used in measuring service quality in higher-education services.
Bayraktaroğlu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.