Nominal scale as alternative of service quality evaluation : study case from Hacienda Bugambilias Hotel, Mexico

Abstract

Service quality is commonly measured with instruments that use the Likert scale, which corresponds to a qualitative variable (ordinal or nominal) that in turn is associated with a quantitative one (discrete or continuous). This approximation allows performing operations and comparisons but has generated controversy over statistical management and data interpretation. Nevertheless, an analysis based only on the nominal scale -leaving aside the typical numerical one- may be performed. This study proposes measuring and comparing service quality in a hotel using two different assessment scales: numerical interval and nominal. The perception of hotel service quality was measured during three holiday seasons and contrasted using non-parametric hypothesis tests to observe significant changes when it was valued with a numerical interval and nominal scale. The results show that service quality among holiday seasons contrasts according to the type of stopover. The nominal scale revealed information that the numerical interval could not show, providing some advantages for service quality assessment.