Managing Ratings and Rating Scales

Ratings classify response scores into groups or bands that drive the feedback text shown in your reports. You have complete control over rating schemes, and you can use different rating schemes (or maximum scores for ratings) for different assessments.

An assessment normally has multiple rating records. These indicate the grade that the respondent received for a particular subsection, section, segmentation, or response. For example, they may be:

• Red, Orange, Green
• Competency Levels
• Grades (A+, A, etc.)

They can have any label you like, any score range, and you can have any number of them.

Rating List

The Rating List screen shows all the ratings defined for your assessment and provides links to manage rating text at each level.

1. Add a Rating. Click to create a new rating band for this assessment.
2. Rating List. Displays all current ratings with their names, maximum scores, and colours.
3. Links. Each rating has links to:
   • Edit Form (see below).
   • Section Rating Text (usually maintained through the assessment builder).
   • SubSection Rating Text (usually maintained through the assessment builder).
   • Segmentation Rating Text (usually maintained here).
4. Advanced Ratings. Advanced Ratings allows you to add additional Rating Types (the default one is always called the Base Rating Type). Additional Rating Types have their own ratings, which can be named and scored separately. You can then report on alternate Rating Types in the Feedback and Cohort Reports using the RatingType parameter. Read more on Advanced Ratings.

Rating Edit

The Rating Edit form is where you configure each individual rating band, including its score threshold, colour, and feedback text.

Basic Fields

1. Rating Name. The rating name is generally internal to the system. The Rating Text is used to describe it in the feedback report.
2. Assessment. The assessment that this rating applies to.
3. Maximum Score. The maximum score for this rating. The next highest score implies the minimum score. If there are no lower maximum scores, this record will apply from 0. This score is always a percentage but entered as a whole number (e.g. 66 = 66%). If you are using Likert scoring, convert the Likert score to a percentage. For example, if you had a rating that went to a maximum of 3.5 out of 5, the value would be 70: (3.5 / 5.0) x 100.
4. Rating Colour. You can select a colour or enter the hex code for the colour. It is used on all graphics relating to the rating. Ensure that you click Apply before you exit the colour picker.
5. Is Override. This indicator is used if this rating is used as an Override (or Not Applicable). The Maximum Score should be set to zero. This feature is used when a subsection should not be scored because it is not applicable to the respondent. The subsection specifies the answer that indicates the Override rating should be used. Read more in Using Overrides.
6. Certified Checkbox. This is an additional field displayed on this screen if the Settings field "Certifications Issued" checkbox is ticked. If the system is being used to issue certifications, ticking this checkbox indicates that this rating passes the certification.

Rating Text

7. Rating Text. You can have up to 5 separate versions of the Rating Text, and select which one to use on reports using the RepText parameter. The default is Report Text 1.
8. Save the Rating Text. Use this button to save rating text changes before displaying another Rating Text.

Text Editor

9. Buttons Row 1:
   • Bold
   • Italics
   • Underline
   • Strikethrough
   • Align text left
   • Centre text
   • Align text right
   • Justify text
   • Bullet Points
   • Number
   • Indent (an additional Outdent button appears if Indent is selected)
   • Create a link to an external URL
   • Import an Image held on the Graphics table
   • Insert file (Not Available)
   • Add table. A selector is shown to pick the size of the table (rows and columns). Once a table has been added, additional buttons are shown to manage the table (to assist in adding and deleting rows and columns).
   • HTML - view and modify the underlying HTML for the text.
   • Format - Pick whether this text should be shown as a heading (1-4) or paragraph (normal text). The default is Paragraph.
10. Buttons Row 2:
    • Clear Formatting - Important for removing all of the hidden formatting when copying text from other systems.
    • Change the font. This will override the font of the merge string.
    • Change the size. This will override the size of the merge string.
    • Text colour
    • Background colour
    • Ruler - to place a light grey line across the text.
11. Buttons Row 3:
    • Insert Video from the Graphics table.
12. Merge Fields (Row 4). These fields are used for Question and Answer Piping.
    • Select Answer Text or Report Text (which you want to merge into the text).
    • Select the Question you wish to merge in the Answer or Report Text from. Displays a drop-down list.
    • Add. Clicking the Add button will insert the formatted merge string into the text at the cursor location.

13. Text. Enter the text to be shown on the report if this rating is attained.

Rating Image

14. Rating Image. If you have a badge or similar for different achievement ratings, it is uploaded here. The image is available for display in the Feedback Report. Ensure that it is sized for how you want it to appear on the Feedback Report.
15. Current Image. The current image is shown here if one is uploaded.
16. Image Comment. If entered, this comment will be used as an Alt Tag for the image.

Using Overrides

Overrides are used when a subsection is not applicable to the respondent (for example, the subsection questions are conditional) but you still want specific text to appear in the report for that subsection.

To set up an override:

1. Create an Override Rating. Add a new rating with a Maximum Score of 0 and the Is Override checkbox selected (field 5 above on the Rating Edit form).
2. Configure the Subsection. On the subsection(s) where you want the override to apply, enter the rating text as normal. Then specify the answer that triggers the override using the Override Answer selector. See the Subsection Settings article for details.
3. Write Override Text. In the subsection rating text for the override rating, enter the text you want to appear when the subsection is not applicable.

For example, if you have a subsection about International Trade and the qualifying question is "Do you trade internationally?", you can set the Override Answer to "No". When a respondent answers "No", the override rating text is shown instead of a score-based rating.

Related Articles

• Configuring Assessment Scoring - understand how scores feed into ratings.
• Using Advanced Ratings - add additional Rating Types with separate scales.
• Configuring Ratings-Based Text - use rating text in your Word report templates.
• Setting Rating Colors and Chart Styles - customize rating colours for charts and visuals.

FAQs & Troubleshooting

Use the questions below to troubleshoot common issues with ratings.