was conducted on light rail/metro rail and most of the studies were conducted on airlines, buses

and long distance trains. In Indian context no detailed study is available on metro rail. This
makes this study significant and different from other existing study.

CHAPTER – 4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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4.1. Overview of Methodology

Research methodology is a tool which provides us a smooth and clear path to achieve the
predefined objectives, hypothesis/theory/model. It discusses method/process of research, nature
and structure of data, method of data collection, data identification, data classification, data
analysis, and tools required for analysis of data & result. Thus, we can say that research
methodology is a blue print of collecting, measuring and analyzing the data related to the
objectives.

In the beginning of the research, objectives of the study are determined. The hypotheses of the
study are determined based on objectives of the study. For collecting the data total 1015 sample
are used out of 1100 sample which shows the response rate of 92.7% against 1100 original
sample. Data are collected through questionnaire on the basis convenience sampling due to easy
accessibility and affordability. Structured questionnaire is used for opinion survey and five point
Likert Scale is used for data collection. Respondents were asked to indicate their degree of
agreement or disagreements on 1 to 5 point Likert Scale right from strongly agree to strongly
disagree. Initially 50 questionnaires were used for the pilot study to check validity of
questionnaire. Content validity test is used to test the validity of questionnaire. The questionnaire
was revised several times to make it more understandable to the respondents and relevant for the
study. The opinion of research experts were also incorporated in the questionnaire. In order to
test the reliability of data, Cronbach Alpha test is administered.

While conducting the research, 81 variables belonging to different services of Delhi Metro were
identified to carry out research. These variables were identified through depth interview, focus
group interview, and extensive review of literature.
The pre testing of the questionnaire was also performed on twenty carefully selected respondents
and based on the feedback of respondents, few technical questions and vague questions were
removed from the questionnaire. Pre testing and pilot study reduced the variables from 66 to 46.

In order to reduce the number of variables and for classifying the variables into different
components; dimension reduction technique, popularly known as factor analysis is used and it
reduced number of variables from 66 to 46. As for conducting factor analysis, the total number
of responses should be four to five times more than the variables so total 1015 completely filled
questionnaire were finalized for the study. The size of the sample is more than required size. The
sample was selected from different metro stations of Delhi Metro.

The factor analysis is used during early stage of the research. Factor analysis is used because all
the variables taken were not relevant for the study. Principal component analysis is used for
extracting minimum number of factors and KMO test is administered to measure adequacy of the
sample. Eigen value is also used to describe how many factors are required to describe the data.
In order to conduct rotational method, Varimax procedure is used to ensure that no variable have
more loading with more than one variable. Factor analysis classified the variables into five
components namely platform services, train specific services, ticketing services, security services
and employees driven services.

Various hypotheses were framed during the course of study and it is tested by using appropriate
statistical test. For the data analysis purpose, statistical measures such as correlation, regression
analysis, chi square test, factor analysis is administered. Multivariate analysis is chosen in order
to analyze the impact of 46 independent variables over five dependent variables. The result of
2
multivariate regression analysis produced five different regression models. Chi square test (
test) is performed in order to analyze relationship between of demographic variables and
independent variables causing passenger satisfaction.

4.2. Objectives of the Study

The present study identifies the various factors influencing satisfaction level of customers of
Delhi Metro. This study primarily aims to assess satisfaction of frequent travelers of Delhi
Metro. The study intends to propose a framework of major dimensions that have impact on
customer satisfaction. The key objectives of this study are described below.

1- To identify the factors influencing satisfaction of commuters of Delhi Metro.

2- To analyze the impact of Platform Services, Train Specific Services, Ticketing Services,
Security Services and Employees Driven Services over satisfaction of commuters of Delhi
Metro.
3- To arrange the factors influencing customer satisfaction in hierarchical order based on their
relative importance in passenger satisfaction.
4- To propose new services to Delhi Metro based on opinion survey of customers.
5- To develop scale and customer satisfaction model for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

4.3. Hypotheses of the Study

Hypothesis is the statement which is yet to be proven. Both directional hypothesis and non-
directional hypothesis is used by the researchers. In the present study, non directional hypothesis
was used in which deviation take place on both the side of sampling distribution. The hypothesis
was tested by two tailed test at 5% level of significance. Hypothesis is used in almost all the
researches as it validates the assumption of researcher. Different hypotheses are framed during
the course of study. These hypotheses are tested by multivariate regression and Chi square test.

Following null hypotheses are framed based on the objectives of the study.
H01- There is insignificant impact of platform services over satisfaction of passengers with
Platform services.
H02- There is insignificant impact of Train specific services over satisfaction of passengers with
Train specific services.
H03- There is insignificant impact of ticketing services over satisfaction of passengers with
ticketing services.
H04- There is insignificant impact of security services over satisfaction of passengers with
security services.
H05- There is insignificant impact of employees driven services over satisfaction of passengers
with employees driven services
H06- There is insignificant relationship between age of passengers and seating facility
H07- There is insignificant relationship between age of passengers and medical facility
H08- There is insignificant relationship between age of passengers and enquiry handling
H09- There is insignificant relationship between age of passengers and updated information
H010- There is insignificant relationship between age of passengers and announcement inside the
train.
H011- There is insignificant relationship between age of passengers and journey comfort.
H012- There is insignificant relationship between age of passengers and jerking of the train.
H013- There is insignificant relationship between age of passengers and stoppage time of the train.
H014- There is insignificant relation between occupation of passengers and travelling when and
where I want.
H015- There is insignificant relationship between occupation of passengers and number of ticket
counter.
H016- There is insignificant relationship between occupations of passengers with respect to their
preference of ticket option.
H017- There is insignificant relationship between the Gender of passengers and requirement of
time gap between the doors.
H018- There is insignificant difference in the perception of passengers with respect to gender for
alertness of security forces
H019- There is insignificant relationship between gender of passengers and their preference for
CCTV camera surveillance.

4.4. Sampling Plan

Sampling plan describes the procedure to draw sufficiently large sample from the population.
The credibility of sampling procedure determines the sample size. While drafting the sampling
plan, efforts were being made to remove sampling errors by selecting respondents from different
age group, gender, occupation, income and native place.
A sample design addresses the three questions, who are to be surveyed (sampling unit), how
many to be surveyed (sample size) and how should the respondent be chosen. For deciding
whom to survey, target population was defined and data were collected only from frequent
customers. Sample are selected from all the metro stations and maximum respondents are chosen
from busiest metro stations like Rajiv Chowk, Kasmiri Gate, Vaishali, Botanical Garden and
Laxmi Nagar; keeping in mind the maximum footfalls at these stations. Total 1100 sample
belonging to different age group, income, and gender were chosen for the study by using
convenience sampling. Both male and female respondents were chosen to minimize gender bias.
Respondents were contacted at exit points of the station and on the platform.

4.5. Method of Data Collection

The data collection method depends on the type of research. As the study is empirical in nature,
so survey method was used and non disguised structured questionnaire was designed for the
study. The objectives of the study were explained to the respondents and they were asked to fill
out the questionnaire in a self administered manner. Both primary data and secondary data are
collected for the study. The secondary data help to validate the variables used in the
questionnaire, methodology used in the analysis related to the objectives and so on.

4.5.1. Primary Method of Data Collection

Primary data is collected through questionnaire and total 1100 sample are collected from the
metro stations during the normal working days not during the peak hours or holidays. Out of
1100 sample, 1015 sample were found suitable for the study. Remaining 85 samples were
removed due to vague responses given by the respondents. Total 46 variables are used in the
questionnaire apart from proposed services, annexed in Appendix-A.

4.5.2. Secondary Method of Data Collection

Secondary data are collected from different sources such as performance report of Delhi Metro,
CAG report, published report of public transport organizations, website of different metro
railway around the world and scholarly literary work of researchers.

4.5.3. Period of Study

The primary data collected through the questionnaire are of Cross-Sectional Type. The data were
collected during different week within a year (2012-2013). Primary data is classified as cross-
sectional data because sample is collected as a given point in time (Wooldridge, J.M., 2009).

4.5.4. Choice Description for Opinion Survey

For the opinion survey, three choices such as personal survey, mail survey and telephonic survey
were available and personal survey method was chosen for data collection as it is more reliable
and acquires detailed information from the respondents. Total 46 statements regarding
satisfaction level of passengers were used in the questionnaire apart from proposed services and
respondents were asked to indicate their degree of agreement or disagreement to the statements.
Total 10 questions were asked regarding proposed services. Attitude scale was used to know the
responses of the respondents. Out of three attitude scale namely semantic differential scale, rank
order scale and likert scale, it was being decided to carry out data collection through Likert scale
and responses were measured on five point likert scale starting from strongly agree to strongly
disagree. Likert scale was given preference over the Semantic Differential Scale and Rank Order
Scale because it transforms non parametric data into metric data. Likert scale uses both positive
and negative statement. This scale is also known as Summated Scale and developed by Rensis
Likert.

The questionnaire was also converted into the Google doc and sent to experts for refinement of
the questionnaire before proceeding for data collection. Few questionnaires were sent to very
limited respondents through Google doc to clarify some vague responses given by them.

A well defined and structured procedure was used for opinion survey of the customers. Non
disguised structured questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument. Before proceeding
for final survey, pretesting of the questionnaire was administered with 20 carefully selected
respondents and the questionnaire was tested based on the three parameters namely brevity,
clarity and focus. The views of experts were also taken into the consideration and minor
alteration was made in the questionnaire. Sample was chosen from all the metro stations of Delhi
Metro Rail and maximum responses were taken from the stations having largest volume of
passengers. Non probability sampling (Convenience Sampling) was used for data collection.

4.6 Questionnaire Design

As mentioned above non disguised structured questionnaire was used and the objective of
research was explained to respondents. The questionnaire contains two parts; the first part
acquires demographic information while second part of the questionnaire acquires specific
information regarding services delivered by Delhi Metro. Total 61 questions were asked from the
respondents apart from demographic variables. The variables used in the study were identified
through depth interview, focus group interview and extensive review of literature. The important
variables were extracted from scholarly literary work of John Disney (2000), Todd Litman
(2010), Jusoh Yacob, Wan et al.(2010), Silcock( 1981), and R. Sreedhar(2012).

Total eight questions were framed in the first part and 61 questions were asked in the second
section of the questionnaire. Questionnaire is based on five parameters namely platform services,
train specific services, security services, ticketing services and employees driven services. Total
14, 16 and 8 questions were framed regarding Platform Services, Train Specific Services and
Security Services respectively; and 8 and 5 questions were framed regarding Ticketing Services
and Employees Driven Service respectively. In the last section of the questionnaire, 10 questions
were asked regarding proposed services. Responses of commuters were measured on five point
likert scale.

4.6.1. Scale Development:

To develop a measurement scale which leads to valid and reliable results is a challenging task in
any research field. It takes time and efforts. Several scholars argue that three important criteria
for good measurement are validity, reliability and sensitivity. “Effective measurement is a
cornerstone of scientific research (DeVellis, 2003; Netemeyer, Bearden, & Sharma, 2003) and is
a central component of good assessment of latent variables (C. R. Reynolds, 2010) and empirical
research (Crook, Shook, Madden, & Morris, 2009)”. Reliable and valid measures contribute to
the legitimacy and development of a research field. Colquitt & Zapata-Phelan (2007) stated that
“empirical articles that use rigorous methodological procedures, besides being firmly grounded
in theory, receive more citations and are more important to the development of science”. Most of
the researchers use previously developed scale to conduct the research and some researchers
develop the new scale to address specific research problem. Specific guidelines are available
regarding the procedure to develop the scale to carry out the research. In the present section of
the study, scale was developed for measuring satisfaction level of commuters of Delhi Metro.
The procedure for developing customer satisfaction scale for Delhi Metro is as follows.
Figure-1.1
 (Scale development procedure for customer satisfaction of Delhi Metro)

Identify the important touch points of services of Delhi Metro

Establish the linkage between these touch points and explore

the dimension influencing passenger’s satisfaction.

Identify important variables associated with explored dimensions

through existing studies, focus group interview and depth interview

Construct the questionnaire by incorporating identified variables

Conduct pre testing of questionnaire on 20 respondents and
make minor alteration in the questionnaire.

Validate the questionnaire on 50 respondents through content validity test

Modify the questionnaire

Conduct the opinion survey for data collection

Conduct factor analysis for dimension reduction

Eliminate irrelevant variables after factor analysis and carry out the
research through remaining dimensions.
4.6.2. Validity of the Questionnaire
In the beginning of the study, the pilot study was administered with 50 respondents. There was
concern that questionnaire is too long, so questions were reworded, few technical questions were
removed and statements were used in the questionnaire for speedy data collection and to save the
time of respondents. The questionnaire was validated through content validity test. Validation of
the questionnaire ensures that questionnaire is relevant, understandable and able to fulfill the
objectives of the research. In terms of measurement procedure, Validity is ability of instrument
to measure what it is designed to measure. Smith (1991) stated that “validity is the degree to
which the researcher has measured what he has set to measure”. According to Babbie (1990)
“validity refers to the extent to which an empirical measure adequately reflects the real meaning
of the concept under consideration”.

4.6.3. Reliability of Questionnaire

Reliability is tendency of respondents to respond in a similar manner to identical questions.
Three kinds of reliability test are available namely “Retest Reliability, Equivalent Form
Reliability and Internal Consistency Reliability”. In Retest Reliability same set of questions are
asked to same person in a different time slot and responses are measured. In the next step the
degree of similarity between two responses are determined based on calculated correlation
coefficient. The higher correlation coefficient determines that measurement is reliable.

Out of three reliability test, internal consistency reliability test is used to test the reliability of
data. Internal consistency reliability is used to assess the reliability of summated score by which
several items are summed to form a total score. In this test Cronbach Alpha or Correlation Alpha
is used. Cronbach alpha is different from correlation coefficient and it varies from 0 to 1.
Coefficient value of 0.6 or less than 0.6 is considered to be unsatisfactory. Cronbach Alpha is
estimate of reliability and higher value of cronbach alpha is indicator of reliability.
Table 4.1. Cronbach Alpha
Sl. No. Nos. of Items Cronbach Alpha
 1 14 (Platform services) .920
2 16 (Train Specific Services) .965
3 8 (Security Services) .910
4 8 (Ticketing Services) .839
5 5 (Employees Driven Services) .917

The above table shows the value of Cronbach Alpha for all the five kinds of services associated
with Delhi Metro. The result of the test reveals that data of Platform Services, Train Specific
Services and Security Services are reliable by 92%, 96.5% and 91% respectively. The Ticketing
Services and Employees Driven Services are reliable by 83.9% and 91.7% respectively. The
result indicates that there is very less percentage of error variance in the data. For example, in
platform services data is reliable by 92% and error variance is very low ( i.e. 8%). From above
discussion, it is clear that data chosen for the study is highly reliable.

4.7. Model of the Study

This study aims to measure the satisfaction level of passengers of Delhi Metro. Customer
satisfaction is outcome of various services delivered by Delhi Metro. These services include
Platform Services, Ticketing Services, Train Specific Services, Security Services and Employees
Driven Services. The relative importance of all these services and the magnitude of the impact of
all these factors over the customer satisfaction are different for different customers as
expectation, past experience and knowledge level of different customers are different. Some of
the variables of factors used in the study were derived from existing literature and few were
extracted from depth interview and focus group interview. The model for measuring the
customer
 Model for Measuring the Satisfaction Level of Passengers

4.7.1. Model Development Procedure

A conceptual model was proposed in order to analyze the impact of five different kinds of
services over customer satisfaction. In the final model, two dimensions of services were
eliminated from the model.

Dimensions of Customer Satisfaction

 Elimination of Miscellaneous services and social services after Pre
testing, pilot study and Factor Analysis

Figure-1.2
4.8. Analysis of the Data
The data is analysed by SPSS-20 (Statistical Package for Social Science- Version 20). In the data
analysis, descriptive tools of statistics such as mean, standard deviation and correlation; as well
as inferential measure such as factor analysis, multivariate regression analysis and Chi square
test are performed to analyze the data. Correlation is used in order to analyze strength and
direction of relationship between the variables. The correlation coefficient measure the degree of
linearity between two variables. Linear relationship between two variables is established when
both variables fall on straight line and straight line is found in scatter diagram. SPSS gives
correlation matrix that describes coefficient of correlation for each pair of the variable. The
diagonal elements of correlation matrix are equal to one because variables correlate perfectly
with it.

Multivariate Regression Analysis is used to describe the functional relationship between

dependent variable and independent variables. Regression analysis determines whether
independent variables explain the significant variation in dependent variable or not? It also
explains that how much variation in dependent variable is being explained by independent
variables. In other word it analyzes the impact of independent variables over dependent variable.
Regression analysis analyses the rate of change and it is used to estimate dependent variable
using independent variables. In the present study out of the two regression models, deterministic
model and Probabilistic model, Probabilistic model was chosen as deterministic model assumes
that all the points are on regression line.

For conducting the multivariate analysis, five dependent variables namely platform services
satisfaction, Train Specific Services Satisfaction, Ticketing Services Satisfaction, Security
Services Satisfaction and Employees Driven Services Satisfaction and 46 independent variables
were identified for the study. The result of multiple regression analysis produced five kinds of
regression model under condition of or under assumption of Best Liner Unbiased Estimate
theorem (BLUE theorem) to estimate Ordinary Least Square (OLS). The normality of residual is
also tested by using both mathematical and graphical approach as; a good regression model
should have residuals which are normally distributed and sum of the residual must be equal to
zero. Out of various residuals, standardized residual is selected to test the normality of residuals.
Chi square test is performed to assess the relationship between demographic variables such as
age, gender, income, qualification, occupation and variables causing customer satisfaction. Chi
square test is performed because nominal variables significantly influence the expectation of the
customers and they rate the services based on their expectation. Moreover expectation of the
customer is influenced by his knowledge, exposure, income level and past experience. Lim,
Bennett, and Dagger (2008) identified the importance of demographic variables in measuring
service quality and passenger satisfaction. Snipes, Thomson et al. (2006), stated that
“significance appears to exist between opinions of customers across various demographical
characteristics for service fairness”.

In order to reduce the number of variables, an interdependence technique factor analysis is

administered. Factor analysis is used during early stage of the research as it identifies the factors
responsible for the cause. Factor is linear combination of variables with different weight and it
quantifies the constructs (Factors) with the help of manifest variables. Factor analysis is used
because significant correlation is found between the variables. Principal Component Analysis is
used for extracting minimum number of factors and KMO test is administered to measure
adequacy of the sample. Eigen value is also used to describe how many factors are required to
describe the data. In order to conduct rotational method, Varimax procedure is used to ensure
that no variable have more loading with more than one variable.

4.8.1. Testing of Hypotheses.

Various kinds of statistical test such as t-test, F-test, Chi square test is used for testing the
hypothesis. Chi square test is specifically used for categorical data. In the present study, non
directional hypothesis is tested by two tailed test with 5% level of the significance. This shows
that there are 95% chances of making correct decision. The level of significance is determined
before drawing the sample.

For making the decision regarding acceptance or rejection of null hypothesis, the critical value or
p- value (probability value which separate the acceptance region from the rejection region) is
determined. The hypotheses are tested at 5% level of significance by appropriate statistical test.
If p-value is less than 5%, null hypothesis is rejected otherwise it is accepted. In other words
when critical value lies in acceptance region, then we accept the null hypothesis otherwise we
reject it.

4.9. Profile of the Respondents

To conduct the study, total 1100 respondents, who travel with Delhi Metro frequently, were
selected. Out of 1100 sample, 1015 sample is found suitable for the study. Respondents with
different income level, background, native place were selected for the study. Both male and
female respondents are taken to minimize gender bias. Out of 1015 respondents 56.3% are male
43.7% are female. The percentage difference between male and female is less due to better male
female ratio in urban India. In Delhi and NCR most of the working women and girl students
reside and this reduced the percentage difference between male and female.

When age wise profile of the respondents are analyzed, it is found that 51.6% are less than 25
year age group, 26.1% are between the 25 year and 35 year age group, 17.6% are between 35
year and 50 year age group and 4.6% are more than 50 year. The higher percentage of
respondent belongs to less than 25 year age group. This is due to higher percentage of younger
population in India. Various colleges and universities are located in Delhi and NCR and this
leads to higher percentage of respondents below 25 year age group. Out of 1015 respondents,
40% are married and 60% are unmarried. In urban India, people are getting married at early age
of their life span due to better employment opportunity in National Capital Region. Respondents
are also analyzed based on their profession and it is found that 50.1% are salaried, 10.6% are self
employed, 6.9% are house wife, and 32.3% are students. The majority of the respondents belong
to salaried group followed by the students. With regards to educational qualification, 17% are
under graduate, 50% are graduate, 31% are post graduate and approximately 2% are Ph.D. The
higher percentage of graduate is due to financial support of the parents and easy availability of
loan from the financial institution. In terms of native place, 76.4% are from urban area, 10.6%
are from semi urban area and remaining 11.3% are from rural area. With regards to income level,
32.5% respondents belong to less than Rs 25000 income bracket, 23.4% belong to 25000 to
50000 income bracket. 6.9% respondents earn more than 50000 per month while remaining
37.1% respondents do not earn.

CHAPTER – 5

DATA ANALYSIS

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