EngagementHQ's Surveys & Forms tool provides a question type called 'Ranking'. This type allows you to ask survey-takers to rank specific options or statements based on their preference. There are a few things you should note:
If the question is made mandatory, all options need to be ranked.
If the question is NOT mandatory, the survey taker can rank as many or as few options as they like.
If the user does not rank options logically, for example, they rank three out of eight questions with a 1, 3 and 6, instead of a 1,2 and 3, then EngagementHQ automatically re-ranks the options to 1, 2 and 3 AFTER the survey is submitted to reflect their order correctly.
In the reporting, the number that is provided to you is the average ranking. This means that if an option shows a value of 2.36, then on average, this option got ranked in 2.36th position. In other words, the lower the value, the more preferred this option is.
The formula used to calculate the ranking averages is "Option_rank = total rank/number of votes". The Total rank is the addition of all the ranks received to an option and Votes are the number of times that rank was selected.
As a way of example, consider the question:
What is your favorite mode of transport? (Rank by most(1) to least(4) preferred)
The results may look like this:
In this case, the Bike is ranked on average as the most preferred mode of transport. With an average ranking, the lower the number, the more preferred the option. Hence ensure that the question and the ranking scale are clearly described when soliciting input from the participants.
Another example of the logic behind the ranking question is as below;
A survey has a question with three options and five people voting on it. Option one is being ranked by those five people as
1st
2nd
1st
2nd
3rd
The total is 9 (1+2+1+2+3). There were five votes, i.e. 9 / 5 = 1.8. Hence this option has an average rank of 1.8.
Contact our support team if you need any further assistance via chat or email support@engagementhq.com.