Advanced Weighting User Guide
Advanced Weighting enables users to set-up weighting schemes where multiple dimensions are required. In most cases, RIM weighting is sufficient. We recommend that only those users with an in-depth knowledge of weighting use the Advanced Weighting feature.
Where to find Advanced Weighting:
To access Advanced Weighting, click on: Actions > Weighting > Create Advanced Weight:
Screen 1 - Setting up an Advanced Weighting Scheme:
In the first screen, users will see both the Weighting Scheme Name and Universe.
Users are only required to name their weighting scheme on this page using the first box. All other inputs are optional.
Weighting Scheme Name
“Name” – this is where users enter the name of their weighting scheme. This must be an alphanumeric word, for example, “Newyear25”. Users cannot enter special characters or spaces.
“Description” – this box is optional, however, this is what appears on tables when users apply a weighting scheme to their data. It is recommended that users input a description for their weighting scheme e.g. “Age and Gender Weighting”.
Universe
If the universe option is enabled, users will be able to apply weighting to a specific group of respondents they select. For example, if a user wants to apply weighting only to respondents between the ages of 25-45 when the survey contains adults aged 18+.
If this option is enabled, users need to give their universe a name as this will appear in the top left corner of the weight wizard.
Users then need to click the “…” next to the Universe Definition box.
This will then open the filter builder so that the user can define their required universe. Users can do this using the visual builder (select a question(s) and required answer choice(s) and “add to builder) or using syntax in the advanced builder. The builder will also tell you the number of respondents that will be in your universe. Once you have created the required universe, click Save:
Once you’ve given your weighting scheme a name (and added a universe if required) click next:
Screen 2 – Adding a sub-group and/or target(s):
On screen 2, users can specify a sub-group and/or targets. Users must enter either a sub-group or target(s) or both before clicking “next”.
Sub-groups: Applying a sub-group enables users to set the total weighted base they require and assign a proportion of that total to each option within their sub-group. For example, a user may wish to ensure that all markets have even weight distributions. Another example is that a user may wish to assign specific demographic targets to each market within their sub-group. These options allow users to:
In the first example, India was oversampled and Sweden and Norway were under-sampled, so ensuring each market has a proportion of 20% will ensure that no market’s opinions is over or under represented.
In the second example mentioned above, the user can also make use of targets to set the gender proportions in each market:
Whatever combination you decide on, as a user, you must click “validate” before clicking next. Validating your entries ensures all proportions sum to 100% per included variable.
If everything is correct, you will see the following message on screen:
If there is an error, you will see the following message detailing where a mistake has been made:
Once you have set-up all of your required sub-group and/or target(s) and validated them, you can click “next”.
Additional options for the sub-group and target(s) feature
Next to the label for each option in a given sub-group or target variable, there are tick boxes. Ticking one or more of these boxes, will enable the actions and they will go from faded grey to black.
Sub-group: users can disable an option(s) and merge two or more options. Users are also able to undo these actions:
Target(s): users can disable an option(s), merge two or more options, and add a “no answer” row. Users are also able to undo these actions.
Additionally, where users have a number of targets, for each target users can paste them in from a spreadsheet to save time.
Once the user clicks “apply” the numbers are entered into the corresponding cells/boxes.
Screen 3 – Capping Weights and Setting Iterations:
This step is optional, but on the third screen, users can enter minimum and maximum caps for their sub-group’s options. Capping ensure that no individual respondent is assigned a weight value above or below the specified threshold. This goes out to three decimal places.
Users can also set the maximum number of iterations that the Advanced Weighting tool will run through to try to make the weighting scheme work before it fails.
Screen 4 – Rounding:
Rounding is also an optional step, but this feature allows users to specify the number of places required (0-8). Users can also decide if rounding is up or down.
Screen 5 – Check and Run:
On the fifth screen, users can check all of their inputs from the four previous screens and then “run” their weighting scheme. If successful, users will see screen six otherwise, they will see an error message that specifies what actions need to be taken to fix the weighting scheme.
Screen 6 – Outputs and Definitions:
On the final screen, users can see a number of weighting outputs. If it all looks as expected, the user can click finish, which will save the weighting scheme. Or the user can click back to make any additional adjustments:
To edit an existing Advanced Weighting Scheme, please see this article
To apply any type of weighting scheme to your dataset, please see this article: Applying Weights