STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DATA FROM THE “SCORE AND RANK” PROCEDURE IN PREFERENCE STUDIES WITH CHILDREN

The elicitation of preferences among children is a key to the successful development of products designed for children. Among the several hedonic methodologies adapted for children aged between 6 and 10, the “score and rank” procedure introduced by L. L. Birch et al. was selected and tested. This procedure comprises two steps: hedonic categorization followed by ranking within each hedonic category. A new strategy of data analysis generated from this procedure of evaluation is discussed and illustrated on the basis of case studies with primary school children with whom close variants of commercial food products were tested. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The data processing strategy suggested for the “score and rank” procedure yields scores associated with the products being evaluated. In comparison with the usual procedure of data analysis that is based on ranks, the new strategy of analysis does not overestimate the differences in likings between the products and the number of consumers clusters.