Environmental Perception Rating Scales

Abstract

Environmental perception researchers frequently use rating scales to measure perceptions of environments. Using data from diverse environmental rating tasks, this study compares the scale values and the intergroup reliability obtained by several different scaling methods. The particular method used to combine ratings influenced neither the scale values nor the reliability of the scale-a simple mean rating produced results almost identical to more complicated scaling methods. We also found that for a wide range of subjective rating tasks, acceptable intergroup reliability can be achieved with small groups. These results may help researchers design more cost effective studies of environmental perception.