Comparative judgments as an alternative to ratings: identifying the scale origin

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Decision Science
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Comparative judgment methods offer advantages over rating scales but share a limitation: they cannot determine the origin of evaluations.
• This inability to establish a scale origin prevents conclusions about the absolute attractiveness or unattractiveness of items.
• Understanding individual differences in comparative judgments is hindered by this lack of origin information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the limitation of comparative judgment methods in determining the scale origin of evaluations.
• To explore the implications of this limitation for interpreting individual differences in judgment.
• To present novel methods for recovering the scale origin in value judgments.

Main Methods:

• The study proposes a nested model comparison approach to determine the scale origin.
• Three distinct methods are presented for scale origin determination.
• An empirical application is used to illustrate the proposed methods.

Main Results:

• The proposed methods allow for the determination of the scale origin in comparative judgments.
• The application demonstrates the practical benefits of establishing a scale origin.
• Recovering the scale origin enhances the understanding of value judgments and individual differences.

Conclusions:

• Determining the scale origin is crucial for a comprehensive interpretation of comparative judgments.
• The presented methods offer a viable solution to a long-standing problem in judgment research.
• This approach advances the understanding of how individuals evaluate items and express preferences.