Question

1. What advantages are lost if the sum of the weights in a weighted scoring approach does not add to 1.0?
   • Why is it suggested that factors with less than 2 percent or 3 percent impact not be considered in this approach?

Answer 1

A weighted scoring approach is applied in various fields. Consider the example of taking a test or an exam including multiple-choice questions and essay format questions. The teacher uses the weighted scoring approach and gives more score to essay format (60) answers compared to multiple-choice questions (40) to arrive at 100. The students give more emphasis to preparing for essay questions to increase their grades. Hence the relevance of weighted scoring approach is understood in this context that if the sum of the weights in the weighted scoring approach normalizes to 1.0, it would be fast and quick to evaluate and at the same time the criteria for valuation becomes transparent enabling effective preparation for the test

It is suggested that factors in the weighted scoring approach that factors less than 3% are not considered due to the limitation of choice it creates on decision-makers. When factors less than 3% are considered in a weighted scoring approach, it results in spending more effort and time to arrive at the final choice and at the same time contribute very little to the choice. Hence factors less than 3% are not considered in the weighted scoring approach