Scoring

 


A score can be created by using Script action, which cacluates the score and stores it in a hidden question. The Script action may use when=before on the page where all the components of a calculation become available, or when=after on a page where the result may be used or stored. Here's an example of the Script:
health_risk_score = drink + smoke + weight;
There are four questions: drink, smoke and weight have numerical values; health_risk_score is a hidden question.

The hidden question that contains the calculated score can be used like any other question. It can be piped into another, it can be saved, it can be tallied, and it can be analyzed. This section outlines a few additional pointers for how to get best results out of them.

The calculated scores can be integers, decimals, or characters. Most of the time they will be integers. The Script custom action allows specifying how many decimal places will be calculated. If you don't specify any, a calculated score is rounded to the nearest integer. Otherwise, the indicated number of decimal places are stored with the score.

Refer to the Script section for complete information on all its options.

To tabulate individual score values, it is necessary to go to the Options / Tally page and turn on tallying for the hidden question. If the score includes decimal places, consider increasing the default limit of 250 different possible answers. Note that more than 250 values can be quite expensive on CPU resources; if you don't need to analyze these fields, then leave tallying off.

When analyzing data with Univariate and Cross tabulation Analysis, a new option allows tabulating Others, both as a group and individually. Which one to use depends on the statistical measurements you want to take. The following table summarizes the recommended settings:

If score is... Turn Tallying Analyze Others Statistics allowed
Integer values On Separately Counts, percentages,
mean, standard deviation
Integer values Off As One Mean and standard deviation only
Decimal Values Off As One Mean and standard deviation only

 

Next: Actions and Script