Chapter 4. Results
4.2 Results – I. Service Delivery Dimension
4.2.1 Responses on the 13 Statements
The statistics of points given by 17 practitioners are listed in Table 4.3, including the mean, modes, standard deviation, minimum points, and maximum points on the 13 statements. The average mean of the 13 items is 5.82. The individual means of the 13 items are presented in a line chart (Figure 4.4).
Based on the mean of each item, the rankings of the 13 quality attributes are also defined. Only four statements receive average points of over “6”, ranking them the top four:
D2 “Excellent interpreters will provide the services at the time they promise to do so, including being on time” has a mean of 6.59; D11 “Excellent interpreters should be well-prepared with the conference subject to understand well the context of the conference.”
has a mean of 6.41; D8 “Excellent interpreters should be polite and well-mannered” has a mean of 6.06; D9 “Excellent interpreters should be properly dressed and look professional”
has a mean of 6.06. The standard deviations of the top 4 quality attributes are also the smallest (<1.0) among all, suggesting the consistency of opinions on the top ranked items.
Table 4.3 Responses of Practitioners on Service Delivery Dimension- I
Average Mean: 5.82
Average Standard Deviation: 1.19 Ranking Mean Mode Standard
Deviation Min Max
D1_When the client has a problem, excellent interpreters will show a sincere interest in solving it.
7 5.71 6 1.724 1 7
D2_Excellent interpreters will provide the services at the time they promise to do so, including being on time.
1 6.59 7 .618 5 7
D3_Excellent interpreters should have educational backgrounds or working experiences relevant to the conference subject.
13 5.18 5 1.704 1 7
D4_Excellent interpreters should have interpreting experiences on conference subjects relevant to the assignment.
12 5.41 5 1.121 3 7
D5_Excellent interpreters will have clients' best interest at heart and respond to unexpected situation with an understanding mind.
9 5.65 6 1.057 4 7
D6_Excellent interpreters will understand the specific communication objectives of their clients and help achieving such objectives.
5 5.94 7 1.249 4 7
D7_Excellent interpreters will never be too busy to respond to clients' requests
11 5.53 4a 1.231 4 7
D8_Excellent interpreters should be polite and well-mannered.
3 6.06 7 .966 4 7
D9_Excellent interpreters should be properly dressed and look professional.
4 6.06 6 .899 4 7
D10_The behavior of excellent interpreters should be poised and assuring.
6 5.82 6 1.015 4 7
D11_Excellent interpreters should be well-prepared with the conference subject to understand well the context of the conference.
2 6.41 7 .870 4 7
D12_Excellent interpreters will talk to the clients before and after the conference to learn their requests.
10 5.65 7 1.498 2 7
D13_Once an assignment is confirmed, excellent interpreters will take the initiative in requesting conference information or reference material.
8 5.71 7 1.572 2 7
Source: Compiled by this study.
Three attributes have standard deviations of more than 1.5 (22% of 7 points), suggesting practitioners have least consensus on those items. The three items are: D1
“When the client has a problem, excellent interpreters will show a sincere interest in solving it” (SD=1.724), D3 “Excellent interpreters should have educational backgrounds or working experiences relevant to the conference subject” (SD=1.704), and D13 “Once an assignment is confirmed, excellent interpreters will take the initiative in requesting conference information or reference material” (SD=1.572). One practitioner who gave D1 statement 2 points made a note to explain, “It depends on the nature of the problem. If it is unrelated to the interpreting service, there will be other people more qualified to deal with the problem. Also, the customer will not ask the interpreter for help if such is the case.”
Figure 4.4 Responses of Practitioners on Service Delivery Dimension - II Source: Compiled by this study.
(2) Clients
The statistics of points given by the 20 clients are listed in Table 4.4, including the mean, modes, standard deviation, minimum points, and maximum points on the 13 statements. The average mean of the 13 items is 5.97. The individual means of the 13 items are presented in a line chart (Figure 4.5).
D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 Average scores 5.71 6.59 5.18 5.41 5.65 5.94 5.53 6.06 6.06 5.82 6.41 5.65 5.71
4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7
Sc or es
Table 4.4 Responses of Clients on Service Delivery Dimension - I
Average Mean: 5.97
Average Standard Deviation: 0.96 Ranking Mean Mode Standard
Deviation Min Max
D1_When the client has a problem, excellent interpreters will show a sincere interest in solving it.
8 5.80 7 1.105 4 7
D2_Excellent interpreters will provide the services at the time they promise to do so, including being on time.
1 6.85 7 .366 6 7
D3_Excellent interpreters should have educational backgrounds or working experiences relevant to the conference subject.
13 5.00 5 1.338 2 7
D4_Excellent interpreters should have interpreting experiences on conference subjects relevant to the assignment.
7 5.90 7 1.165 4 7
D5_Excellent interpreters will have clients' best interest at heart and respond to unexpected situation with an understanding mind.
5 6.15 7 .813 5 7
D6_Excellent interpreters will understand the specific communication objectives of their clients and help achieving such objectives.
4 6.30 6a .801 4 7
D7_Excellent interpreters will never be too busy to respond to clients' requests
6 6.10 7 .968 4 7
D8_Excellent interpreters should be polite and well-mannered.
9 5.80 7 1.105 4 7
D9_Excellent interpreters should be properly dressed and look professional.
10 5.60 5a 1.142 4 7
D10_The behavior of excellent interpreters should be poised and assuring.
12 5.40 4 1.273 4 7
D11_Excellent interpreters should be well-prepared with the conference subject to understand well the context of the conference.
2 6.70 7 .571 5 7
D12_Excellent interpreters will talk to the clients before and after the conference to learn their requests.
11 5.60 5 1.188 3 7
D13_Once an assignment is confirmed, excellent interpreters will take the initiative in requesting conference information or reference material.
3 6.45 7 .686 5 7
Source: Compiled by this study.
Based on the means, the rankings of the 13 quality attributes are also defined. Six statements receive average points of over “6”, ranking them the top six: D2 “Excellent interpreters will provide the services at the time they promise to do so, including being on time” has a mean of 6.85; D11 “Excellent interpreters should be well-prepared with the conference subject to understand well the context of the conference” has a mean of 6.70;
D13 “Once an assignment is confirmed, excellent interpreters will take the initiative in requesting conference information or reference material” has a mean of 6.45; D6 “Excellent interpreters will understand the specific communication objectives of their clients and help achieving such objectives” has a mean of 6.30; D5 “Excellent interpreters will have clients' best interest at heart and respond to unexpected situation with an understanding mind” has a mean of 6.15; D7 “Excellent interpreters will never be too busy to respond to clients' requests” has a mean of 6.10. The standard deviation of the top three quality attributes are also the smallest (<0.7) among all, suggesting the consistency of opinions on the top ranked items.
D3 “Excellent interpreters should have educational backgrounds or working experiences relevant to the conference subject” has the highest standard deviation (1.34) among all and ranks the last, suggesting clients of different backgrounds hold distinctive views on this item. Based on additional comments and a crosscheck on those who rate this item “7”, it was found that some respondents believe and accept the fact that interpreters are mostly those who specialize in languages but have no other professional backgrounds, while others, particularly those in medical, biotech, and law related fields believe professional background relevant to the subject is necessary.
Figure 4.5 Responses of Clients on Service Delivery Dimension - II Source: Compiled by this study.
(3) Comparison of the two data sets
In comparison, the average mean of the client data is slightly higher (5.97) than that of the practitioner data (5.82). The average standard deviation of the client data (0.96) is lower than that of the practitioner data (1.19), which suggests the opinions of clients are more consistent than that of practitioners.
A comparison on the rankings of the two data sets shows both groups share common recognition of the most and least important quality attributes: both D2 and D11rank top 2 and D3 ranks the last in both data sets. However, differences are found with other items.
As shown in the line chart illustrating the means of both data sets (Figure 4.6), Clients’
means are generally higher than Practitioners’, except for three items: D8 “Excellent interpreters should be polite and well-mannered.”, D9 “Excellent interpreters should be properly dressed and look professional”, and D10 “The behavior of excellent interpreters should be poised and assuring”. The rankings suggest the similar disagreement: D8, 9, and 10 rank 3rd, 4th, and 5th in the practitioner data, but in the client data, they rank 9th, 10th, and
D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 Average Scores 5.8 6.85 5 5.9 6.15 6.3 6.1 5.8 5.6 5.4 6.7 5.6 6.45
4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7
Sc or es
12th. This suggests practitioners thought the three items of higher importance while the clients think the opposite. One client respondent made a notion that D8, 9, and 10 are not as important since, in the conference interpreting settings, clients do not expect interpreters to present themselves or social with others, therefore, these three attributes related to the first impression are not considered as important.
Figure 4.6 Result Comparison on Service Product Delivery Dimension Source: Compiled by this study.
The other differences observed is on D4 “Excellent interpreters should have interpreting experiences on conference subjects relevant to the assignment”, D7 “Excellent interpreters will never be too busy to respond to clients' requests”, and D13 “Once an assignment is confirmed, excellent interpreters will take the initiative in requesting conference information or reference material”. These three items receive higher points from clients than from practitioners. As for the ranking, they rank 7th, 6th, and 3rd in client data, but 12th, 11th, and 8th in practitioner data. This indicates that practitioners have underestimated clients’ expectation on those three items. D7 and D13 suggest responding attitude and taking the initiatives to communicate. Their importance is further supported by
D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 Practitioner 5.71 6.59 5.18 5.41 5.65 5.94 5.53 6.06 6.06 5.82 6.41 5.65 5.71 Client 5.8 6.85 5 5.9 6.15 6.3 6.1 5.8 5.6 5.4 6.7 5.6 6.45
4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7
Points
Service Delivery
additional comments from client respondents as they noted that the attitude and willingness to communicate makes a big difference.