Statistical analysis of sensory profiling data: data reduction and generalised Procrustes analysis

The aim of the study is to show the sensory differences between 16 varieties of potatoes assessed twice by 14 judges with 30 attributes. Instead of simply performing a statistical method taking into account the variability among judges and yielding a judge consensus space, a selection step is carried out. It aims at reducing the data to keep the information relevant to the objective of the analysis. Thus the sensory attributes are selected on their discriminative ability and on the extent to which the judges agreed on their meaning. The judges are chosen according to their performance.