Thurstonian Modeling for Triangular Method toward Analysis of Rating Data

Products are often evaluated on rating scales to measure and quantify their attributes of interest. In case that one wishes to compare multiple rating datasets simultaneously, there must be a standardized scale with which one can discriminate relative differences among corresponding scale means. In this regard, the concept of Thurstonian modeling applied to various discrimination tests including the triangular method has been recently being reconsidered. In this paper we extend previous researches on the triangular method and evaluate the effect of unequal variances and correlated variables upon the probability of correct response using Monte-Carlo simulation. We observed that the probability of correct response depends on dimensionality, variances, and correlation structure of stimulus sets. But it does not depend on the relative orientation in a multidimensional space.