Constructing a descriptive sensory panel for tactile comfort evaluations: Effect of demographic variables and panel size

Abstract

Sensory tests are essential components of comfort studies, and constructing a sensory panel is a crucial step of this process. In the current study, Total Hand (TH) scores of 41 woven fabrics were determined by assessors having different demographic characteristics. Assessment accuracy and inter-rater reliability of panel members were investigated via correlation and concordance analyses. Effect of demographic variables (gender, age, and level of expertise), panel size and sampling method on sensory evaluation results were discussed based on statistical measures. Findings of the study certified that sensory evaluations carried out with female panel members represent overall TH scores more successfully than males and assessment of female participants are in a better agreement with each other. It was also observed that assessment accuracy and inter-rater agreement improved with increasing levels of expertise. Investigations revealed that small panel sizes were sufficient to accurately evaluate fabric hand. Therefore, it was concluded that increasing the number of participants may not necessarily provide further information on comfort preferences and perceptions of potential customers.

Keywords

• Tactile comfort
• Fabric hand
• Sensory tests
• Panel size
• Demographic variables

Thanks

The authors would like to thank the assessors participating in the sensory evaluations.

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