Proposal, development and validation of the scale: Distance Higher Education Service Quality (DIHESQ)

Abstract

Higher education sectors have experienced high levels of competence. In this scenario, some universities have responded through the offer of studies in non-traditional modality (distance). Various scales have been proposed to measure the quality of service in higher education, but few studies have focused on distance modality (non-traditional modality). This is relevant, since distance higher education has characteristics that differentiate it from higher education in traditional modality (presential). Given this, this research focuses on the proposal, development and validation of a scale of service quality measurement in distance higher education, which is called Distance Higher Education Service Quality (DIHESQ). A three-stage methodology is applied. First, the DIHESQ measurement scale is proposed ensuring its content validity, later the analysis of unidimensionality is applied and finally the psychometric properties of it are analyzed. It is concluded that the DIHESQ model is second order, reflective and multidimensional, and it is composed of the following dimensions: (a) teachers and teaching; (b) curriculum plan and study material; (c) evaluation and feedback; (d) administration and organization; (e) functional platform; (f) emotional platform; (g) institution support; and (i) social and labor.