Reporting Total Scores

Brilliant Assessments reports a score in three ways: a percentage score, an average (Likert) score, and a Total.

The Total is the sum of the points achieved for the answers selected. It is available at assessment, section, subsection and theme level.

Use the Total when you want to report a raw points figure, for example "You scored 189 out of 220".

How the Total is calculated

The Total is the sum of the answer points achieved for the questions included in the selection.

Questions with a Maximum Score of zero are ignored, as they are for the other metrics. For full detail on how scores are built up, see Configuring Assessment Scores.

Showing the Total in a report

In the Merge Manager, select the merge type Total Score, then choose the level you want from Show. The merge string is written for you.

Note on parameter names. Themes were previously called Segmentations. The Merge Manager now writes ThemeG= and ThemeNo=. The earlier SegG= and SegmentationNo= parameters continue to work exactly as before, so existing report templates do not need to be changed.

To control how many decimal places are shown, add Decimals=. For example, {RatingScore.Total[Decimals=1]}.

A complete report line

A common pattern is "Total Score: 189 out of 220". Combine the merge string with static text:

Total Score: {RatingScore.Total} out of 220

Showing the Total on a chart

Every chart type that offers a Display option supports the Total. In the Merge Manager, choose your chart merge type, then from Display select Total Score. This adds the Metric=Total parameter.

{Bar[Metric=Total]}

The parameter combines with the usual element selection and formatting parameters:

{Bar[SectionNo=ALL SubSectionNo=ALL Metric=Total Label=Y Decimals=1]}

Totals in cohorts

In a cohort, the Total is divided by the number of respondents represented in that total, producing an average total. This allows cohorts of different sizes to be compared on the same scale.

Using the worked example above, a cohort containing one respondent reports a Total of 17 ÷ 1 = 17. A cohort of ten respondents whose totals sum to 170 also reports 17.

Comparing a Total to a benchmark

Benchmarks store an average total alongside the percentage and average scores, so a Total can be compared to a benchmark in the same way as any other metric.

To show the benchmark's average total, add a benchmark parameter:

{RatingScore.Total[BM1=0]}

To show the difference between this response's Total and the benchmark, select Differences from the Options list and choose Difference to Benchmark:

{RatingScore.Total[Metric=DiffBM BM1=0]}

If you already use the Theme and Calculation method

Before the Total was available as a metric, a raw score was produced by creating a Theme, creating a Calculation that multiplied the percentage score by the maximum points, linking the Calculation to the Theme, and then reporting the Theme.

Nothing needs to change. Assessments set up that way continue to work exactly as before, and reports built on them continue to produce the same figures. There is no need to unwind the Themes or the Calculations.

For new work, use the Total metric instead. It requires no Theme, no Calculation and no Maximum Points value, and it is available at every level directly.

FAQs & Troubleshooting

Related Articles:

• Configuring Assessment Scores
• Displaying Scores in Report
• Setting Up Calculations for Assessments