Comparative Evaluation
The Comparative Evaluation method allows the participants to rate several sounds from a set on the same screen.
In the Comparative Evaluation method, a set of sounds is presented by groups to each listener who has to rate each sound with respect to a specific question. For example, Rate the sound in order of preference. Two sounds, called anchors, are systematically inserted in each of these groups: they are supposed to represent the top and bottom of the scale, compared to the whole set of sounds and with respect to the question asked. The participants are not informed that two sounds are inserted among the sounds of interest.
- The two anchor sounds should be chosen so that they are clearly, naturally identified as the top and bottom sounds by the participants.
- The two anchor sounds should not be too different from the other sounds of the set, to ensure sufficiently differentiated ratings on the scale for the whole set of sounds. For more information, see Anchors.
Listening test
Each listener has to:
Listen to the sounds (N sounds per Screen including two anchors).
Rate the sounds.
If needed, listen again to any of the sounds, as many times as necessary.
If needed, modify any of the ratings, as many times as necessary.
If needed, click the reorder button to reorder the sounds according to their current ratings.
Validate the ratings.
Note: A Listener cannot validate before having listened to the sound entirely, and before having changed the default rating at least once. For more information, see the Setup instructions on the General Conduction parameters.Note: Sounds are randomly placed in the different groups, and the sounds of a given group are presented in a random order to each listener. For each listener, each sound can be presented only once or repeated several times in different groups throughout the whole test.