Quantitative Meanings of Verbal Probability Expressions
1989
In this article, the meanings of 18 verbal probability expressions were studied in 3 ways: (1) frequency distributions of what single number best represented each expression; (2) word-to-number acceptability functions from what range of numbers from 0% to 100% best represented each expression; and (3) number-to-word acceptability functions from which expressions were appropriate for multiples of 5% from 5% to 95%. The results agreed highly with others and were highly consistent across methods.
Expressions incorporating the stem probable were quantitatively synonymous with expressions incorporating the stem likely. Except for expressions using the word chance, positive expressions (e.g., likely) were closer to 50% in meaning than corresponding negative expressions (e.g., unlikely).
Extracted from publication abstract.
Quantitative Meanings of Verbal Probability Expressions
Source:
Reagan RT, Mosteller F, Youtz C. Quantitative Meanings of Verbal Probability Expressions. Journal of Applied Psychology 1989; 74 (3): 433-442. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.74.3.433
Not open access.