Ranking is a data transformation in which values are replaced by their rank when the data is sorted.
For any two items, the first is either
- ranked higher than
- ranked lower than
- ranked equal to
the second.
Values can be ranked from the smallest to the largest, or from the largest to the smallest.
Ordinal ranking presumes that all items will receive distinct ordinal numbers, including items that compare equally. Distinct ordinal numbers for items that are equal can be assigned arbitrarily, but it is also desirable for the ranking to be consistent (and if needed, incorporate other attributes into the ranking order) so that the results can be replicated.
Consider the following example:
We are ranking users, with the highest-level user ranking 1st. In order to do that, we can Sort Largest to Smallest our users by level and then assign them rank. However, in order to ensure consistency, we are first sorting our users’ codes from A to Z in the column D, then sorting our user levels from largest to smallest in the column E, and only then are we assigning them rank in the column G. Our user is hence always ranked higher than the other user if he is at a higher level than the other user, and if they are at the same level, the one with the earlier user code is ranked higher.
Competition ranking presumes that items that are equal will receive the same ranking number, and a gap is left in the ranking numbers.
The RANK.EQ function ranks numbers under competition ranking.
The RANK function is an older version of the RANK.EQ function and performs the same way.
The RANK.EQ function syntax is as follows:
= RANK.EQ ( number; ref; [order] )
Number is the number whose rank you want to find.
Ref is an array of, or a reference to, a list of numbers. Non-numeric values in ref are ignored.
Order is a number specifying how to rank a number.
If order is zero or omitted, Excel ranks numbers from highest to lowest, i.e., as if ref were a list sorted in descending order.
If order is 1 (or any nonzero value), Excel ranks numbers from lowest to highest, i.e., as if ref were a list sorted in ascending order.
Consider the following example:
Both users at level 18 are now ranked 3rd, with no one ranking 4th.
Fractional ranking also presumes that items that are equal will receive the same ranking number. However, in this case, the ranking number will be the mean of the ranking that the numbers would have under ordinal ranking.
The RANK.AVG function ranks numbers under fractional ranking.
The RANK.AVG function syntax is as follows:
= RANK.AVG ( number; ref; [order] )
Number is the number whose rank you want to find.
Ref is an array of, or a reference to, a list of numbers. Non-numeric values in ref are ignored.
Order is a number specifying how to rank a number.
If order is zero or omitted, Excel ranks numbers from highest to lowest, i.e., as if ref were a list sorted in descending order.
If order is 1 (or any nonzero value), Excel ranks numbers from lowest to highest, i.e., as if ref were a list sorted in ascending order.
Consider the following example:
Both users at level 18 are now ranked at 3,5.
Note the difference: in our example, the sum of all ordinal ranks is 210, the sum of all competitive ranks is 196, and the sum of all fractional ranks is 210, which is the same as the sum of all ordinal ranks.
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