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Variable Manager – Manually Creating a Score Variable
GideonSoft strongly recommends using a logical and consistent naming convention for variables. See Variable Naming Conventions for a full explanation.
From the Variable Manager screen, click the green “New Variable” button and select “Score Variable”.
1. Enter basic variable information.
- Enter a Name and Label.
- (Optional) Enter a Description.
- Select a Format: Numeric or Time.
- (Optional) Select whether to Include in Statistics. Turning this option on generates statistics based on this variable, including Sample Size, Average, Standard Deviation, Suspect, Criminal values. Statistics allow for analysis comparing a person to everyone or a subset of everyone in the Instance.
- Select whether to only use people with an active status in statistics.
- (Optional) Select Use best/worst values to enable and define best and worst values (normalize the data). Best and Worst values define a range for the input data, which acts as a kind of safe-guard, so that any outlier data or anomalies do not adversely affect the new score variable.
- Ascending (default) … which means a higher number is better
- Descending … lower is better (e.g. a faster run time)
- Identify a Direction:
- Ascending (default) … which means a higher number is better
- Descending … lower is better (e.g. a faster run time)
- Click Next.
- Include in Objectives … off by default. (See Managing Objectives)
- Variable Mapping … If it is not mapped, click the plus sign, and provide a name for it. If you leave “Module level score only” checked, this mapping will extend up to the module level, but not the organization level. (See Data – Mapping)
- Once the mapping is created, it will be available for mapping in other instances.
2. Select the method this variable will use to generate a value (based on the selected variable(s) in the following step). The available methods include:
| Method | Description | Variable type to use | Method type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessee Variance (Standard Deviation) | The variance, or standard deviation, of values received; how much in agreement were the people rating this person? (rater agreement) | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Assessor Average | Average of ratings this individual gave others; good for evaluating assessor performance | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Assessor Variance (Standard Deviation) | The variance, or standard deviation, of values given; how similar/varied were this person’s rating of others? | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Average | Average of ratings everyone gave this person (including their own rating) | Evaluation (Score) | Transformed (Calculated) |
| Average of Other Users’ Evaluations | Average of ratings everyone else gave this person (excludes self ratings) | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Average of User’s Own Evaluations | Average of ratings this person gave themselves (i.e. self-ratings) | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Average of Z Scores | Converts the specified variables into a Z Score and then takes a weighted average. If only one variable is selected then it will convert it into a Z Score. | Score | Calculated |
| Baseline Evaluation | Identifies the evaluation flagged as the Baseline evaluation for a person, if any have been set. | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Convert Z Score to Percentile | Used in conjunction with an ‘Average of Z Scores’ variable; converts that variable into a percentile. | Score | Calculated |
| Count | Counts the number of evaluations a person received; if none were given, no value will be generated. | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Count Assessor’s Evaluations (Including Zero) | Counts the number of times a person gave an evaluation; if none were given, the value will be zero. | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Count Evaluations (Including Zero) | Counts the number of evaluations a person received; if none were received, the value will be zero. | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Descriptive Transformation | Convert a Descriptive (text) value into a numerical value. | Descriptive | Transformed |
| Maximum | Identifies the highest evaluation value recorded. | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Minimum | Identifies the lowest evaluation value recorded. | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Most Recent Evaluation | Identifies the most recent evaluation recorded. For example, if a person’s weight is measured on a regular basis, then the most recent measure will replace the previous weight measure. | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Rank | Ranks (“racks and stacks”) based on the selected score variable; can be applied to everyone in the Instance or a subset of everyone; the direction can also be specified (higher score is better, or lower score is better) | Score | Rank |
| Raw (manual entry) | No calculations are performed, other than the optional Statistics. This provides a way to create and define a variable that can then be referenced from Surveys, Spreadsheets, a person’s Profile or other variables. The value only changes after manual entry/re-entry. | — | Raw |
| SQL Scripted | Allows you to create your own unique score combinations, using selected Microsoft SQL. (The customizing/scripting functionality is available after saving the variable settings). | Score | Calculated |
| Sum | Adds together the values of the selected variable(s). | Evaluation (Score) | Transformed (Calculated) |
| Threshold Variance | Lets you set four thresholds: Target, Stretch, Suspect, and Criminal. These thresholds can be used to help identify individuals who:
Have met a goal value (Target) Are in danger of not meeting the goal (Suspect) Failed to meet the goal (Criminal) Performed above and beyond the goal (Stretch) These can be monitored throughout a course, and pertinent people can be notified so they can possibly adjust actions/training along the way. |
Score | |
| Weighted Assessor Average | Using ratings this individual gave others, this is an average of the values, each with a different associated “weight” assigned to it. This method recognizes certain numbers as more “important” than others. Multiply each value by its weight, then sum the results together. | Score | Transformed |
| Weighted Average | Using ratings everyone gave this person (including their own rating), this is an average of the values, each with a different associated “weight” assigned to it. This method recognizes certain numbers as more “important” than others. Multiply each value by its weight, then sum the results together. | Evaluation (Score) | Transformed (Calculated) |
| Weighted Average of Other Users’ Evaluations | Using ratings everyone else gave this person (excludes self ratings), this is an average of the values, each with a different associated “weight” assigned to it. This method recognizes certain numbers as more “important” than others. Multiply each value by its weight, then sum the results together. | Evaluation | Transformed |
| Weighted Average of User’s Own Evaluations | Using ratings this person gave themselves (i.e. self-ratings), this is an average of the values, each with a different associated “weight” assigned to it. This method recognizes certain numbers as more “important” than others. Multiply each value by its weight, then sum the results together. | Evaluation | Transformed |
3. Select the variables to filter selected data (the availability of variables depends on the methods selected in the previous step):
You can select as many variables as desired. Select from Score (single-value), Evaluation (multi-value) or Warehouse Data (multi-value).
- Scores (single value) … The list of existing score variables will be displayed.
- You can search by typing in the Search box, and the list will automatically be filtered down.
- Select a Score (single value) variable by clicking on it.
- Details about the score will be displayed, along with a Weight field. The default Weight is 1. If selecting multiple variables to filter data, you can adjust the Weight to apply more importance as needed.
- Click “Add”.
- Evaluations (multi-value) …
- You can select an Evaluation as a filter by clicking on “Evaluations (multi-value)”. This displays “Filter Options” with a variety of options to help narrow down what data to include. Select as many as needed.
- Name … this drop down list includes variable names from all sources of input (Surveys, Observations, Feedback, etc). You can also narrow the list by typing in the Search box at the top of the list.
- Type … this drop down list includes variable types from Surveys and Observations
- Tags … these two drop downs allow you select:
- A Tag Type (Survey, Observation, etc), and
- The Tag
- Auto-Tags … drop down list of existing Auto-Tags
- Survey … drop down list of all Surveys (active or not)
- Rolling Offset … specify numerical values for each of the following parameters, to only include evaluations in a rolling range of time:
- “Select Day Range” … specify the number of days back from today as the beginning and the number of days back from today as the end of the date range; if left empty, it will include today.
- “Select number of most recent values” … if you want to limit the number of evaluations included in the defined date range
- Status … these two drop downs allow you choose:
- “Include only” or “Exclude”
- One of the available statuses
- Exclude Inactive Statuses … by default (off), all statuses are included.
- Severity … only applies to Behavior Observations; specify a numerical value. Severity determines how “important” a value is (e.g. the behavior “Candidate didn’t shave” is less severe than “Candidate lost weapon”).
- Severity Type … drop down list to indicate if the behavior is positive or negative.
- Degree … applies to Surveys or imported evaluations; specify a numerical value. Degree is the response/rating given as an evaluation (e.g. an athlete’s strength rated at 67 is a lower degree than one rated at 83).
- Dimension … this drop down lists all existing Dimensions.
- Factor … this drop down lists all existing Factors (regardless of Dimension).
- Sub-Factor … this drop down lists all existing Sub-Factors (regardless of Factor or Dimension).
- Source … this drop down lists all existing sources for the data.
- Include Objects … by default (off), object are not included when processing scores or statistics.
- Weight … The default Weight is 1. If selecting multiple variables to filter data, you can adjust the Weight to apply more importance as needed.
- Click “Add”.
- You can select an Evaluation as a filter by clicking on “Evaluations (multi-value)”. This displays “Filter Options” with a variety of options to help narrow down what data to include. Select as many as needed.
- Warehouse Data (multi-value) …
- You can select an Evaluation as a filter by clicking on “Warehouse Data (multi-value)”. This displays “Filter Options” with a variety of options to help narrow down what data to include. Select as many as needed.
- Variable … this drop down list includes variables from the warehouse. You can also narrow the list by typing in the Search box at the top of the list.
- Tag … this drop downs allow you select a Tag.
- Rolling Offset … specify numerical values for each of the following parameters, to only include evaluations in a rolling range of time:
- “Number of days back” … specify the number of days back from today as the beginning of the date range
- “Number of days from now” … you can specify the number of days back as the end of the date range; if left empty, it will include today
- “Limit number of most recent values” … if you want to limit the number of evaluations included in the defined date range
- Status … these two drop downs allow you choose:
- “Include only” or “Exclude”
- One of the available statuses
- Exclude Inactive Statuses … by default (off), all statuses are included
- Weight … The default Weight is 1. If selecting multiple variables to filter data, you can adjust the Weight to apply more importance as needed.
- Click “Add”.
- You can select an Evaluation as a filter by clicking on “Warehouse Data (multi-value)”. This displays “Filter Options” with a variety of options to help narrow down what data to include. Select as many as needed.
4. Click Create Variable.
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Version(s): GideonSoft 2021 Release 1 and later