Standards for storing a rating as a range (1-5, 1 is best, etc.) I am designing a ROAD_INSPECTION table that has a CONDITION field:

+---------+-----------+
| ROAD_ID | CONDITION |
+---------+-----------+
|       1 |         2 |
|       2 |         5 |
|       3 |         1 |
|       4 |         1 |
|       5 |         4 |
+---------+-----------+


Are there any standards or conventions that suggest how to format ratings as ranges?

Example, what's the best format for the CONDITION rating?


0 to 5, zero is best
0 to 5, five is best
1 to 5, one is best
1 to 5, five is best
Rule of thumb:  The higher, the better.

All that said, I'd suggest to use a lookup table to store rating definitions. Maybe for an specific question you want to use a rating of 0 to 5, but may be tomorrow you need a bigger or a lower ratio.

Or simply you want to change the name of each option.


Elated
Happy
Indifferent
Unhappy
Miserable  


Using a lookup table you can choose different options for different purposes. Sometimes you need 5 options, sometimes 10 and sometimes 2. 

Do not restrict yourself with a 5 options. 


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  o  True
     o  False
     o  Do not know/ Do not answer