Rating Tables

What Is It Good For?

Rating tables help show the relative merits, risks, costs, etc., of options or issues. Using a consistent measurement can help compare a large number of items quickly and efficiently. This tool will help:

• Determine significant issues
• Identify areas that need the most resources
• Identify publics that need more emphasis
• Find fatal flaws (anything over a certain ranking threshold can be considered fatally flawed)
• Rank alternatives or options

An evaluation summary is also useful to communicate with the public. This type of display can be used for any level of screening or evaluation.

How Do I Use It?

Display various alternatives and issues to get a better feel for tradeoffs.

Rating tables can be used in conjunction with MATS and matrices to show the desirability of an alternative.

For example, administrative time and money needed for a computer system to keep track of time and attendance could serve as a screening factor in choosing a program. In this table, "1" is highe, while "5" is low. The table below depicts a rating system used to identify computer systems.

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