Intensitetsskårer

Intensitetsskårer are scoring schemes used to quantify the intensity of a stimulus, signal or subjective experience. In research and diagnostics, observers or participants assign a numeric or categorical value according to a predefined scale that represents increasing levels of intensity. The scales can be unipolar or bipolar and are often ordinal, with steps such as 0 to 10, 0 to 5, or labeled categories like none, mild, moderate, and strong. In some fields, composite scores combine intensity with another dimension, such as the proportion of affected units.

Common examples include numeric rating scales for pain or sensory experiences (for example 0–10), visual analogue scales, and categorical intensity scales. In pathology and immunohistochemistry, intensity scoring is used to evaluate staining strength of biomarkers; a typical approach assigns an intensity level (for example 0–3) and, in some systems, multiplies by the proportion of positive cells to yield a composite score such as an H-score (0–300).

Applications span sensory science, clinical pain research, taste and odor assessment, dermatology, and image-based analyses where signal intensity is a key measurement. Data from intensitetsskårer are usually treated as ordinal data; researchers often report medians and ranges and use nonparametric tests. Some analyses assume the steps are equally spaced and treat scores as interval data, or apply Rasch analysis to derive interval measures. Reliability and validity depend on clear anchors, training, and standardized procedures to minimize observer bias.