Simmons Pet Related Comparison Report - total Index not equal to 100

[Nancysun0]

I would like to use the Simmons Pet Related Comparison Report data by county level and found for every index column(for example Cat Box Filler/Litter Cat Box Filler/Litter - Hh Buys), the average is not 100 which it should be. This is the document for how Simmons computes the index (https://assets.cengage.com/gale/help/dnow/DataMethodology/SimmonsHelpDocumentation.pdf) It's actually based on the entire US. And I also check the data by state level. The 51 states average is also not equal to 100. Is anyone encounter this problem before?  

[CharlieS]

Hi @Nancysun0 

Could you help us replicate this so we can see for ourselves? Could you confirm the geographies, data vintage, base index setting, and variables you're looking at?

It's not surprising that the 51 states average does not equal 100. The survey respondents may be from all 50 states, but the amount of respondents in each state will vary (moving the average for each state). What you can do to test and make sure the national average is 100 is to set "Entire US" as your study geography and run the report. Assuming your Index Base is set to 100, the resulting indices will be 100.