Elderly Consumers′ Evaluation of Service Quality Available to Purchase

Points out that the increasing interest among academics to measure consumers′ perceptions of service quality has emphasized the role of the self‐administered questionnaire, and that a prime focus has been the development and testing of SERVQUAL, a cross‐sectoral measuring instrument for the evaluation of service quality. Describes a study which uses a self‐administered questionnaire and focuses on the evaluation of the quality of local authority day centres. Highlights a number of difficulties which elderly respondents experience in dealing with measurement instruments of this nature. Discusses alternative approaches and the specific methodological problems encountered when undertaking research work with the elderly.