Getting More Value from the LibQUAL+® Survey: The Merits of Qualitative Analysis and Importance-Satisfaction Matrices in Assessing Library Patron Comments

Brian Detlor is Associate Professor in the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University; e-mail: [email protected]. Kathryn Ball is Director, Assessment and Accountability, in Mills Memorial Library at McMaster University; e-mail: [email protected]. ©2015 Brian Detlor and Kathryn Ball, AttributionNonCommercial (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) CC BY-NC. This paper examines the merit of conducting a qualitative analysis of LibQUAL+® survey comments as a means of leveraging quantitative LibQUAL+ results, and using importance-satisfaction matrices to present and assess qualitative findings. Comments collected from the authors’ institution’s LibQUAL+ survey were analyzed using a codebook based on theoretical insights of customer satisfaction with library features. Qualitative findings extended the quantitative results and yielded key recommendations that were new or unclear from the quantitative results alone. Importance-satisfaction matrices were beneficial in pinpointing primary and secondary opportunities for improvement, areas to place continued emphasis, and areas where expectations were exceeded.