Psychometric Scaling: Avoiding the Pitfalls and Hazards

Psychometric scaling is widely used in the imaging filed for obtaining scale values of image quality and its attributes. Although widely used, scaling has its pitfalls and hazards. This paper reviews the process of scaling and provides some practical hints for conducting psychometric scaling studies and avoiding the most common hazards. The scaling process is described along with suggestions for sample selection, observers, task instructions, and, presenting and viewing the samples. The goal of this presentation is to provide practical guidance to practitioners of psychometric scaling leading to improved efficiency of the scaling study, and, increased precision and accuracy of image quality and attribute scales.