Which rating scale in general in the most accurate? Nielsen rating scale? Richter scale? any ideas?

Question

Which rating scale in general in the most accurate? Nielsen rating scale? Richter scale? any ideas?

Answer 1

I think the most accurate might be the Mohs scale that rates the hardness of materials.  It is based on direct comparisons of the minerals, and so is reproducible and objectively determined.

The Richter scales are estimates of the energy released by earthquakes, but the seismographs are not actually in the fracturing fault - meaning that the data is always based on estimates and would be intrinsically imprecise.

The Nielsen scale relies on self reporting of the TV viewers and statistical analysis of their reports.  Again, I think this would be intrinsically unreliable as people are notoriously unreliable.