Thursday, August 7, 2014

Summing Percentages

Here is another write-up on summing percentages. Example 1 is the only example that produces a valid result. Unless the sum of all the numerators is being used as the denominator for all the percentages to be summed it is necessary to calculate group percentages the same way as the individual percentages are being calculated using the sum of the numerators divided by the sum of the denominators. There are additional issues calculating percentages from reports with options to filter the data as then the calculations need to be based on the filtered data rendering any data summed in the view useless.

Example 1: Using the sum of all the numerators as the denominator for all the percentages to be summed yields a valid result.
Numerator Numerator (Running Total) Denominator Denominator (Running Total) Percentage Running Sum of % Running Sum of % divided by the number of percentages summed Running Percentage
1 1 210 210 0.48% 0.48% 0.48% 0.48%
2 3 210 420 0.95% 1.43% 0.71% 0.71%
3 6 210 630 1.43% 2.86% 0.95% 0.95%
4 10 210 840 1.90% 4.76% 1.19% 1.19%
5 15 210 1050 2.38% 7.14% 1.43% 1.43%
6 21 210 1260 2.86% 10.00% 1.67% 1.67%
7 28 210 1470 3.33% 13.33% 1.90% 1.90%
8 36 210 1680 3.81% 17.14% 2.14% 2.14%
9 45 210 1890 4.29% 21.43% 2.38% 2.38%
10 55 210 2100 4.76% 26.19% 2.62% 2.62%
11 66 210 2310 5.24% 31.43% 2.86% 2.86%
12 78 210 2520 5.71% 37.14% 3.10% 3.10%
13 91 210 2730 6.19% 43.33% 3.33% 3.33%
14 105 210 2940 6.67% 50.00% 3.57% 3.57%
15 120 210 3150 7.14% 57.14% 3.81% 3.81%
16 136 210 3360 7.62% 64.76% 4.05% 4.05%
17 153 210 3570 8.10% 72.86% 4.29% 4.29%
18 171 210 3780 8.57% 81.43% 4.52% 4.52%
19 190 210 3990 9.05% 90.48% 4.76% 4.76%
20 210 210 4200 9.52% 100.00% 5.00% 5.00%
Example 2: Using 100 as the denominator for all the percentages to be summed does not yield a valid result.
Numerator Numerator (Running Total) Denominator Denominator (Running Total) Percentage Running Sum of % Running Sum of % divided by the number of percentages summed Running Percentage
1 1 100 100 1.00% 1.00% 1.00% 1.00%
2 3 100 200 2.00% 3.00% 1.50% 1.50%
3 6 100 300 3.00% 6.00% 2.00% 2.00%
4 10 100 400 4.00% 10.00% 2.50% 2.50%
5 15 100 500 5.00% 15.00% 3.00% 3.00%
6 21 100 600 6.00% 21.00% 3.50% 3.50%
7 28 100 700 7.00% 28.00% 4.00% 4.00%
8 36 100 800 8.00% 36.00% 4.50% 4.50%
9 45 100 900 9.00% 45.00% 5.00% 5.00%
10 55 100 1000 10.00% 55.00% 5.50% 5.50%
11 66 100 1100 11.00% 66.00% 6.00% 6.00%
12 78 100 1200 12.00% 78.00% 6.50% 6.50%
13 91 100 1300 13.00% 91.00% 7.00% 7.00%
14 105 100 1400 14.00% 105.00% 7.50% 7.50%
15 120 100 1500 15.00% 120.00% 8.00% 8.00%
16 136 100 1600 16.00% 136.00% 8.50% 8.50%
17 153 100 1700 17.00% 153.00% 9.00% 9.00%
18 171 100 1800 18.00% 171.00% 9.50% 9.50%
19 190 100 1900 19.00% 190.00% 10.00% 10.00%
20 210 100 2000 20.00% 210.00% 10.50% 10.50%
Example 3: summing percentages calculated with different denominators does not yield meaningful data.
Numerator Numerator (Running Total) Denominator Denominator (Running Total) Percentage Running Sum of % Running Sum of % divided by the number of percentages summed Running Percentage
1 1 10 10 10.00% 10.00% 10.00% 10.00%
2 3 25 35 8.00% 18.00% 9.00% 8.57%
3 6 12 47 25.00% 43.00% 14.33% 12.77%
4 10 15 62 26.67% 69.67% 17.42% 16.13%
5 15 17 79 29.41% 99.08% 19.82% 18.99%
6 21 88 167 6.82% 105.90% 17.65% 12.57%
7 28 398 565 1.76% 107.66% 15.38% 4.96%
8 36 49 614 16.33% 123.98% 15.50% 5.86%
9 45 50 664 18.00% 141.98% 15.78% 6.78%
10 55 66 730 15.15% 157.13% 15.71% 7.53%
11 66 5 735 220.00% 377.13% 34.28% 8.98%
12 78 75 810 16.00% 393.13% 32.76% 9.63%
13 91 49 859 26.53% 419.66% 32.28% 10.59%
14 105 30 889 46.67% 466.33% 33.31% 11.81%
15 120 31 920 48.39% 514.72% 34.31% 13.04%
16 136 32 952 50.00% 564.72% 35.29% 14.29%
17 153 33 985 51.52% 616.23% 36.25% 15.53%
18 171 34 1019 52.94% 669.17% 37.18% 16.78%
19 190 35 1054 54.29% 723.46% 38.08% 18.03%
20 210 36 1090 55.56% 779.02% 38.95% 19.27%

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