Analysis of Visual Sensibility Evaluation of Naturally Colored Organic Cotton: Identification of Reliability and Proper Scouring Method

Objective: The present study was intended to identify (1) the intra- and inter-rater reliabilities of a visual sensibility evaluation protocol and (2) the effects of NaCOC color and scouring method on the visual sensibility of NaCOC. Thirty female participants(20s & 30s) were participated in the visual sensibility evaluation of NaCOC. Background: Interests in naturally colored organic cotton(NaCOC) increase rapidly in parallel with the social trend of eco-friendly living and wellbeing. Method: Three color sets (ivory, green, and coyote-brown) of NaCOC specimens including one untreated and four treated specimens($Na_2CO_3$; NaOH; enzyme; boiling water) were examined in the study. The visual sensibility evaluation was conducted by the test-retest method using nine pairs of bipolar visual sensibility adjectives(bright-dark; clear-murky; heavy-light; vivid-subdued; warm-cool; fresh-stale; strong-weak; showy-plain; and luxurious-cheap). Results: As a result of reliability of a visual sensibility evaluation protocol, inter-rater variability(average SD=1.06) of visual sensibility evaluation was more than 1.4 times the intra-rater variability(average SD=0.74). However, both the sensibility evaluation reliabilities did not show any systematic pattern of changes. Lastly, ANOVA and post-hoc analysis showed that preferred scouring methods for a visual sensibility adjective pair significantly vary depending on NaCOC color. Application: Both the reliability of visual sensibility evaluation protocol and the analysis of proper scoring method of NaCOC in the study would be useful information to design the affective textile.