I find that when I rate things on a scale of one to ten, I am inherently biased towards the higher end. There are probably several factors that contribute to this. First, the way we are evaluated in school starts at 100% (“perfect”), and then points are deducted from the maximum grade. So an average grade in the class could be a “B,” but that is still around 80-85%.
Second, I find that I only like to rate/review things that I enjoy. This is evident in the evaluation sections of sites like Amazon—people only seem to leave feedback on products that they really like or really hate.
But I think I need to reevaluate my evaluations. Grading on a scale from one to ten should exist as a bell curve, because I’m grading the item’s quality relative to similar products. So most ratings would fall around 4, 5, or 6. Very few would be 9’s or 10’s, and there should be just as many 1’s and 2’s. But that’s difficult because most people (myself included) look at something graded 5/10 as bad, when that score should really just be indicative of an average product.
...shouldn’t it?
(The 'not easily offended' comment was a marketing ploy to drive up traffic. Results may be used in a future blog post.)
Second, I find that I only like to rate/review things that I enjoy. This is evident in the evaluation sections of sites like Amazon—people only seem to leave feedback on products that they really like or really hate.
But I think I need to reevaluate my evaluations. Grading on a scale from one to ten should exist as a bell curve, because I’m grading the item’s quality relative to similar products. So most ratings would fall around 4, 5, or 6. Very few would be 9’s or 10’s, and there should be just as many 1’s and 2’s. But that’s difficult because most people (myself included) look at something graded 5/10 as bad, when that score should really just be indicative of an average product.
...shouldn’t it?
(The 'not easily offended' comment was a marketing ploy to drive up traffic. Results may be used in a future blog post.)