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RMRATE

Two publications support the use of the RMRATE software, a user's guide and a description of concepts and methods regarding the scaling of rating data. These publications are described below.

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The "Quick Start" guide includes instructions to run a sample data file that produces the outputs illustrated in "Analysis of Ratings: A Guide to RMRATE".

• A "Quick Start" User's Guide to RMRATE
  (195 KB pdf file)
  

RMRATE was originally developed to analyze ratings of forest scenic beauty. Several publications about measuring forest scenic beauty are available at this website.

RMRATE Publications

• A Guide to RMRATE
  
  
• Scaling of Ratings: Concepts and Methods
  

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A Guide to RMRATE

Brown, Thomas C., Terry C. Daniel, Herbert W. Schroeder, Glen E. Brink. 1990. An analysis of ratings: a guide to RMRATE. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-195. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 40 p.
(564 KB pdf file)

This report describes RMRATE, a computer program for analyzing rating judgments. RMRATE scales ratings using several scaling procedures, and compares the resulting scale values. The scaling procedures include the median and simple mean, standardized values, scale values based on Thurstone's Law of Categorical judgment, and regression-based values. RMRATE also computes reliability statistics and analyzes the ratings using principal component analysis techniques to assess variation among judges. RMRATE should be useful to practitioners needing to summarize or analyze rating data, and to researchers interested in comparing and evaluating alternative scaling methods.

This publication is out of print but is accurately reproduced in a PDF file. It states that the computer program RMRATE is available by writing to the authors, but the program is now available only by downloading from this web site. Also, it describes the process for creating the file containing the input parameters to run RMRATE, but the new version of RMRATE available at this web site comes with a new sample file described in the "Quick Start Guide". Finally, it states that the companion Research Paper RM-293 is available by contacting the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, but that research paper is available only in PDF form on this web site.

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Scaling of Ratings: Concepts and Methods

Brown, Thomas C.; Daniel, Terry C. 1990. Scaling of ratings: concepts and methods. Res. Pap. RM-293. Fort Collins, CO: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 24 pp.
(1.3 MB pdf file)

Rating scales provide an efficient and widely used means of recording judgments. This paper reviews scaling issues within the context of a psychometric model of the rating process, describes several methods of scaling rating data, and compares the methods in terms of the assumptions they require about the rating process and the information they provide about the underlying psychological dimension being assessed.

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