Consensus shows how unanimous the respondents are.
Consensus is calculated by comparing respondents and their answers together and calculating level of agreement between respondents.
Examples
- Will you recommend us (NPS slider from 0 to 10):
1 answer in 0 (for this example, let's name this group as "Extreme detractors")
1 answer in 5 ("Moderate detractors")
1 answer in 10 ("Extreme promoters") - Extreme detractors agree in general with a degree of (100% "Extreme detractors" + 50% "Moderate detractors" + 0% "Extreme promoters) / 3 = 50%
Moderate detractors agree in general with a degree of (50% "Extreme detractors" + 100% "Moderate detractors" + 50% "Extreme promoters) / 3 = 66.7%
Extreme promoters agree in general with a degree of (0% "Extreme detractors" + 50% "Moderate detractors" + 100% "Extreme promoters) / 3 = 50% - Consensus is (1*50 + 1*66.7 + 1 * 50) / 3 = 55.6%
- Will you recommend us (NPS slider from 0 to 10):
1 answer in 8 ("Almost promoter")
1 answer in 9 ("Moderate promoter")
4 answer in 10 ("Extreme promoters") - Almost promoter agree in general with a degree of ((1*100 + 1*90 + 4*80) / 6 = 85 %
Moderate promoter agree in general with a degree of ((1*90 + 1*100 + 4*90) / 6 = 91.7 %
Extreme promoters agree in general with a degree of ((1*80 + 1*90 + 4*100) / 6 = 95 % - Consensus is (1*85 + 1*91.7 + 4 * 95) / 6 = 92.8%
Examples above are calculated consensuses for single question. Overall consensus is an average from all questions.
What does consensus tell? Consensus tells the level of agreement in a selected group. 100% consensus means that every respondent has answered with exactly same answers. Consensus nearing 50% tells you that there is large disagreement between respondents.
When doing selections from data you can see from consensus how similar the selected group is otherwise.