ABSTRACT

This empirical investigation was aimed at conceptualizing, developing and validating a scale for the measurement of the quality of higher degrees by research (HDR-QUAL). For that purpose, this study specifically measured perceptions of higher degrees by research (HDR) students about the constituents of HDR quality in Pakistani tertiary education institutions. Following the 7-step process of scale development, three studies were conducted in order to develop an initial pool of scale items, establishing proposed scale validity and reliability, and assessing nomological behavior of the proposed scale. The principal component analysis with Varimax rotation method resulted in a 3-factor solution, subsequently proposing a 15-item scale. The model fit indices of measurement and the higher-order model indicated a satisfactory fit to data. Finally, the resultant three factors, i.e. financial assistance, supervisory expertise, and infrastructural support, converged into a unidimensional HDR-QUAL scale that was found positively associated with student satisfaction, thus, confirming nomological validity as well. Important policy measures and directions for future research are proposed at the end.

摘要

这项实证研究旨在通过研究（HDR-QUAL）概念化，开发和验证量度更高的质量的量表。为此，本研究专门测量了研究（HDR）学生对巴基斯坦第三级教育机构中HDR质量构成要素的较高感知。在量表开发的7个步骤之后，进行了三项研究，以开发量表项目的初始库，确定拟议量表的有效性和可靠性，并评估所提议量表的法理行为。用Varimax旋转法进行主成分分析得出了3因子解，随后提出了15个项目的规模。测量的模型拟合指数和高阶模型表明对数据的满意拟合。最后，由此产生的三个因素，即财务资助，监督专业知识和基础设施支持，融合为一维HDR-QUAL量表，该量表与学生满意度呈正相关，因此也确认了法理学的有效性。最后提出了重要的政策措施和未来研究的方向。