Methods

This section summarizes the methods, which are procedures to evaluate how sounds are perceived. A listening test project is always associated to one of the four following methods.


Method	Purpose	Advantage
Direct Scaling	Rate sounds one at a time on a continuous scale.	Very fast method for getting reliable mean sound ratings.
Pairwise Comparison	Relative comparison of each possible pair of sounds.	Gives the most accurate assessment of listener preferences of a set of sounds.
Comparative Evolution	Compare and rate several sounds at once.	Good compromise between precision of the ratings and duration of the test.
Semantic Differential	Rate sounds one at a time, using several continuous scales at a time.	Very fast method to get mean sound rating for several scales at a time.
Absolute Category Rating	Assess sounds on an ordered, labeled category scale. Rate sounds one at a time on a labeled category.	More adapted to global assessment of acoustic comfort and/or sound quality.