MEASURING  BY  LIMITED  IMPRESSIONS  327

It  will  be  seen  that  this  form  provides  for  a  very  detailed
analysis,  involving  a  great  variety  of  qualities  and  subtle
distinctions.  The  mechanism  of  this  form  is  as  follows:
Each  quality  has  a  given  numerical  value  of  which  the
subdivisions  form  a  part.  For  example,  speed  may  be
valued  at  ten  points.  If,  under  this  heading,  the  subdivision ­
  “very  fast”  is  checked,  the  individual  would  be
credited  with  ten  or  all  of  the  points  belonging  to  that
quality.  If  fast  is  checked,  eight  of  the  ten  points  would
be  allowed.  If  fair,  six  points;  if  slow,  four  points.  The
same  applies  to  every  quality  in  various  proportions.  The
highest  possible  number  of  points  is  100.  The  person
making  the  estimate  would  need  only  to  check  the  qualities. ­
  A  clerk  in  possession  of  the  key  would  put  down  the
values  and  total  the  results.
This  method  has  certain  advantages;  but,  on  the  whole,
it  is  likely  to  be  too  detailed  and  laborious  for  very  extensive ­
  use.  Moreover,  where  personal  opinions  are  the  final
standard,  not  much  is  gained  by  trying  to  draw  distinctions ­
  which  are  very  subtle  and  elusive.  There  is  also
the  obvious  difficulty  of  defining  some  of  the  qualities
enumerated.
As  a  shorter  and  more  simple  method  the  following
form,  based  upon  the  ten  qualities  defined,  is  suggested.