3—THE SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE ROUGHNESS OF FABRICS

Abstract

To determine consistency and unanimity in ranking the roughness of fabrics, four groups of six subjects each ware asked to rank sets of fabrics, using as a criterion the discomfort they imagined the fabrics would cause when worn next to the skin. The method of paired comparisons was used: coefficients of consistence for individuals and coefficients of agreement for groups were calculated. A statistically significant agreement among subjects was found for the order of ranking of roughness of the fabrics presented. Individuals differed in their consistency of judgement, although all subjects at all times gave results which were significant.