Scoring Methods
We are proud to provide a variety of scoring methods for calculating results at competitive arts events. Below are detailed descriptions of each method and how results are calculated. The methods are Raw Scores, Borda Count, Consensus Ordinal Ranking, and Condorcet.
Condorcet
The Condorcet Method is considered to be the best method for finding global consensus among a set of voters – or judges in our case. That is why we are encouraging all of our clients to use this Scoring Method. It was made famous by the French mathematician, Marquis de Condorcet. The goal behind this method is to find the participant that wins against all other participants in head-to-head contests.
In other words, it asks if the contest was between Participant A and Participant B, who would win? Then it repeats this question for each pair of participants. In the scenario below, this question is repeated a total of 25 times. The participant who wins the most head-to-head contests, takes first place. However, in the occasion of a true tie, Borda Count, Weighted Scores, and Raw Scores are used as tie breakers.
In the example below, the participating groups are labeled in the first column on the left (1) and in the first row at the top (2). The W’s and L’s in the middle (3) refer to whether the participant listed on the left won or lost the contest with the participant listed at the top. For example, where Participant A on the left meets Participant B on the top, there is a “W” which indicates that Participant A won that contest. On the right, the Sum of Wins column (4) shows how many W’s the participant on the left has. The group with the highest Sum of Wins ranks first place (5). In the example below, Participant D has 4 wins, so they receive 1st place.
Ties are typically broken first by Borda Count, then total Weighted Score (if used), then total Raw Score, then total Vocal Score, then total Visual Score.
Displayed in the left most column are the participants.
Along the top row are the participants again.
The cells in each row below correspond to the wins and losses for the groups on the left against the groups on the top.
The column labeled Total refers to the total wins for each group on the left
The column labeled Place indicates which place has been awarded to each participant according to highest Sum of Wins.
Raw Scores
The first is the good ol’ Raw Scores Method. The most points takes the prize!
All we do is add up the scores from all judges and whichever participant has the highest gets first place, the second highest gets second place, and so on. There is no fuss and it’s easy to understand.
Ties are typically broken by total Raw Scores from a specific order of captions that is predetermined by the contest directors, e.g., Vocals > Visuals
Displayed in the left most column are the participants.
Along the top row are the judges that evaluated each performance.
The cells in each row below correspond to the total scores awarded by each judge to each participant.
The column labeled Total refers to the total scores awarded by all judges for each choir.
The column labeled Place indicates which place has been awarded to each participant according to highest score.
The right most column shows which rating each choir has received if the competition chooses to award ratings.
The numbers in red in parentheses indicate any penalties that were assigned to each participant.
Weighted Scores
Each contest has the option of designing their own scoresheet or using one of the many that we already have loaded into our system. In the scenario where the scoresheet categories are satisfactory but the weight each caption (group of categories) has in the final results is not, it is possible to mathematically assign the desired weight. For example, if a scoresheet has 50% of the scores in the Vocals caption and 50% of the scores in the Visuals caption, but the contest wants a 60/40 weight, the contest can multiply the Vocals score by 1.5 to get the desired proportions. This is common practice that educators use when setting up their final gradebook.
To determine the final place, the weighted scores (3) are summed (4) and the highest weighted score (5) receives first place, the second highest receives second and so on.
Displayed in the left most column are the participants.
Along the top row are the judges that evaluated each performance.
The cells in each row below correspond to the total scores awarded by each judge to each participant.
The column labeled Total refers to the total scores awarded by all judges for each choir.
The column labeled Place indicates which place has been awarded to each participant according to highest score.
The numbers in red in parentheses indicate any penalties that were assigned to each participant.
Borda Count
You may have heard this method called something similar to the “Add-’em-up” method, but its actual name comes from the French mathematician who invented it, Jean-Charles de Borda.
With this method, the judges’ Raw Scores are converted into Ranks. This conversion shows the order that each judge has the participating ensembles in rather than simple point totals. These ranks are then added together and the participant with the lowest total gets first, the second lowest gets second, and so on. Another simple and easy solution for calculating results!
Ties are typically broken by total Raw Scores first, then from a specific order of captions that is predetermined by the contest directors.
Displayed in the left most column are the participants.
Along the top row are the judges that evaluated each performance.
The cells in each row below correspond to the ranks awarded by each judge to each participant.
The column labeled Total is the sum of the ranks for each participant.
The column labeled Place indicates which place has been awarded to each participant according to the plurality agreement of judges (two or more agree).
Consensus Ordinal Ranking
The Consensus Ordinal Ranking Method has been a showchoir staple for years now. Its purpose has been to mitigate the effects of point swings and even rank swings on the final outcome. The plurality, not the majority, rules with this method.
This is calculated by converting Raw Scores to Ranks. This conversion shows the order that each judge has the participating ensembles in rather than simple point totals. Then the participant with the most 1s is assigned first place.
For the following places, the value 1 is subtracted from the remaining ranks and the entire process is repeated until all places have been assigned.
If there is a tie at this stage, the algorithm looks for the participant with the most 1s and 2s. This process repeats until ranks have been maxed out. In this case, there is a “true tie”.
True ties are typically broken by total Raw Scores first, then from a specific order of captions that is predetermined by the contest directors.
Displayed in the left most column are the participants.
Along the top row are the judges that evaluated each performance.
The cells in each row below correspond to the ranks awarded by each judge to each participant.
The column labeled Place indicates which place has been awarded to each participant according to the plurality agreement of judges (two or more agree).
If you have any questions about these methods, feel free to ask us by filling out the form below.