Information-criterion based selection of models for community noise annoyance

Statistical evidence for various models relating day-night sound level (DNL) to community noise annoyance is assessed with the Akaike information criterion. In particular, community-specific adjustments such as the community tolerance level (CTL, the DNL at which 50% of survey respondents are highly annoyed) and community tolerance spread (CTS, the difference between the DNL at which 90% and 10% are highly annoyed) are considered. The results strongly support models characterizing annoyance on a community-by-community basis, rather than with complete pooling and analysis of all available surveys. The most likely model was found to be a 2-parameter logistic model, with CTL and CTS fit independently to survey data from each community.