What is the difference between 'Sum' and 'Mean' result calculation?

 

When configuring a score set for Scoring, you will be prompted to select whether the final score will be calculated by 'Sum' or 'Mean'. 

Sum and Mean result calculation radio buttons

Put simply, 'Sum' calculation is the total of all criteria together. 'Mean' calculation takes things one step further by dividing the total by the number of criteria. To better illustrate this, check out the example below.

Note: 'Mean' calculation is affected by the weights added to your individual scoring criteria. For a breakdown of why this is the case, see this helpful resource. If desired, you can apply a weight of 0 only if the score set calculation is set to 'Mean'.

Example

Sum Mean
  Criteria 1: 5/10 points   Criteria 1: 5/10 points
  Criteria 2: 7/10 points   Criteria 2: 7/10 points
  Criteria 3: 9/10 points   Criteria 3: 9/10 points
  Total score = 21/30 points   Total score = 7/10 points
  Formula: (5 + 7 + 9 = 21)   Formula: (5 + 7 + 9 = 21 / 3 criteria = 7)

The same calculations can also be applied to criteria with differing weights. 

'Sum' and 'Mean' calculations do not affect the leaderboard. 

The leaderboard will always show the average score of each application— it's the 'score out of' part which changes.

With sum, it will be out of the total of all criteria.
With mean, it will be out of the average of all criteria.

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