Sorted Napping

Pagbs, J., Cadoret, M. and Le, S. (2010). The sorted napping a new holistic approach in sensory evaluation. Journal of Sensory Studies, 25, 637—658. 

Napping and sorted Napping as a sensory profiling technique... 

This chapter is divided into two main parts. The first is dedicated to Napping, while the second is dedicated to sorted Napping. We will see finally how close Napping and sorted Napping are, and how they can easily be confused in a large number of situations. Each part is illustrated by an example. 

The first example used to illustrate Napping was chosen for two main reasons. First, it will allow the reader to understand the intrinsic nature of the data collected when performing Napping, and the natural evolution from Napping to sorted Napping. Second, although the example is not directly related to sensory profiling, it is typical of the sensations sensory researchers are confronted with when they develop a new product, as it deals with emotions. 

The second example is directly focused on the measurement of sensory perceptions of food products. It is a pedagogical example that illustrates perfectly well how sorted Napping can be used as a sensory profiling technique. In this example, eight smoothies were chosen according to two main factors the type of manufacturer (two categories) and the flavour (four categories). 

Now that we have understood that verbalization is of utmost importance, and that it should be systematically asked of subjects to interpret the results, we will see in the next section where sorted Napping originated. 

Ultimately, sorted Napping can be assimilated to Napping followed by a verbalization phase of elicited clusters. 

Figure 9.6 An example of data collected during sorted Napping.

Figure 9.7 Representation of the smoothies based on sorted Napping data.

Figure 9.8 speaks for itself and demonstrates the capacity of sorted Napping (or Napping combined with verbalization) to be used as a sensory profiling technique. The comments provided by subjects are rich enough to interpret the dimensions of variability amongst smoothies. 

Analysing Napping and sorted Napping data using the R statistical software... 

Sorted Napping data were analysed using the fasntO function of the SensoMineR package. Practically, the code that corresponds to the analysis is the following ... 

Cadoret, M., Le, S. and Pages, J. (2009, August 8th) Combining the best of two worlds, the sorted Napping, Presentation at the SPISE2009 Food Consumer Insights in ASIA Current Issues Future, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 

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