The benchmark comparisons workflow compares sites using criteria and benchmark values that you define. First, select sites to include in the analysis; then choose variables and set a benchmark for comparison. The workflow compares your sites—displayed as color-coded symbols on the map—and adjusts the analysis as you change the comparison method or benchmark value. The results of this analysis appear in the Results pane and can be saved as a new layer in a project or exported to a Microsoft Excel worksheet.
Potential use cases
The following are potential use cases of the benchmark comparisons workflow:
| Application | Description | Examples of data used |
|---|---|---|
Analyze at-risk populations by census tracts to determine which areas are high priority for disaster mitigation. | Run benchmark comparisons to compare census tracts based on at-risk population demographics. Use the Highlight extremes comparison method to show census tracts with extremely high or low at-risk population demographics. Prioritize the extremely high at-risk population areas for disaster mitigation, like flood rescue. |
|
Compare school districts based on school enrollment. | Run benchmark comparisons to compare school districts based on school enrollment. Use the Above and below benchmark comparison method to show school districts with above or below average school enrollment. For areas with lower enrollment, determine if there are educational barriers to overcome, like lack of Internet access or public transportation. |
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Run the benchmark comparisons workflow
Benchmark comparisons is a guided workflow that takes you through each step: select sites, select criteria, set the benchmark, choose a comparison method, and view and refine your results. For more information about the calculations, methodology, and results of the benchmark comparisons workflow, see Benchmark comparisons reference.
To run a benchmark comparison, complete the following steps:
- On the Maps tab, click Run analysis, and select Benchmark comparisons.
The Benchmark comparisons pane appears.
- Select a location type, such as sites, features on the map, standard geographies, or hexagons.
See the Select a location type section below for more information.
Note:
You can modify the geography settings at any time in the Geography section.
- Once you have selected the sites for the analysis, click Next.
- Select variables for the analysis from the following options. To view the variables included in a list, click the List button
.- Featured lists—This tab displays a set of curated variable lists, including variable lists by industry.
- My lists—This tab displays variable lists that you created, including variable lists from your previous comparison reports. For these lists, the Share list, Edit list, and Delete list options are also available.
- Shared lists—This tab displays variable lists that are shared with you, including variable lists from your previous comparison reports.
Browse all variables—Open the data browser to search variables or browse by category.
Once you have selected variables, the results are displayed on the map and in the Results pane.
- If you are using sites, use the Sites section to do any of the following:
- Click Sites to open the Add sites window. Add, remove, or change the site selections.
- Use the Expand rings, drive times, and walk times toggle button.
- In the Variables section, click the variable list name to open the data browser, and add or remove variables from the analysis.
- In the Statistics section, use the toggle buttons to enable statistical measures, including Mean, Median, and Standard deviation.
The statistical measures are automatically added to the Results pane table.
- In the Comparison method section, click the Method drop-down menu to select a comparison method.
Changes made appear immediately on the map and in the Results pane table. For more information about each option, see the Comparison methods section below.
- In the Style section, do any of the following to stylize the benchmark comparison:
- Click the Color ramp drop-down menu to choose a color ramp.
- Click Reverse order to change the direction of the color ramp.
- Click the Map variable drop-down menu to choose which variable to display on the map.
- Click Show map style options. In the Fill section, use the Transparency slider to change the transparency of the fill style or enter a transparency percentage. In the Outline section, click the Color drop-down menu to choose the outline color. Increase or decrease the Width value of the outline. Use the Transparency slider to change the transparency of the fill style or enter a transparency percentage.
- If you are using the Above or below benchmark comparison method, click Show map style options for additional benchmark outline styling. In the Benchmark outline section, use the Color drop-down menu to choose the outline color. Increase or decrease the Width value of the outline. Use the Transparency slider to change the transparency of the fill style or enter a transparency percentage.
- In the Results pane, explore the benchmark comparisons as a summary, histogram, bubble chart, and table.
See the Explore the results section below for more information.
- To save the benchmark comparisons layer, click Save layer, give the layer a name, and click OK.
Benchmark comparison layers are stored in the project pane under Benchmark comparisons layers. To reopen the benchmark comparisons for editing, click the layer's Action menu
and choose Open benchmark comparisons.
Select a location type
Select a location type, such as sites, features on the map, standard geographies, or hexagons.
Sites
Click Your sites 
to use points, polygons, or geographies from your project.
In the Add sites window, select from recently used sites, sites currently on the map, sites from any project, or neighboring geographies. Click Apply. Confirm your selections by unchecking the check boxes next to sites you do not want to include in the analysis. Click Add sites to include additional sites.
Features on the map
Click Features on the map 
to choose sites in the project or features on the map.
In the Select sites pane, select from sites currently on the map or sites from the project. Confirm your selections by unchecking the check boxes next to sites you do not want to include in the analysis. Click Add sites to include additional sites.
Geographies or hexagons
Click Geographies or hexagons 
to use your country's standard geographic regions (such as states, counties, and ZIP codes) or hexagons, and do any of the following:
- Click the Area of interest drop-down menu to define the extent of the analysis by searching for a standard geography. Selecting a standard geography locks the area of interest.
- Use the Geographies or Hexagons tabs to switch between geography styles. To refine the level of detail for either geography style, do the following:
- For geographies, click the Level of detail drop-down menu to specify the geography level of the analysis. Depending on the data source you are using, click the Group menu, select a list of grouped geographies (such as census geographies or school district geographies), and choose a geography level to map.
- For hexagons, click the Level of detail drop-down menu to specify the hexagon resolution.
- Click View glossary to read definitions for each geographic level. The glossary is only available for U.S. data sources.
Explore the results
The benchmark comparisons results are displayed in the Results pane. To learn about the underlying calculations, see Results pane reference.
For each view in the Results pane, you can do the following:
- To hide or show the pane, click Collapse
or Expand 
. - Optionally, if you are using hexagons, click the Hexagon label drop-down menu, and choose from the following options:
Note:
The Hexagon label drop-down menu is not available in the table view.
- Use the Cell ID option to label the hexagons with their cell ID number.
- Use the geography option to label the hexagons with the name associated with their standard geography at that level of detail. This option automatically adjusts with the hexagon resolution.
Note:
For example, if you are using resolution 2 hexagons in your analysis, use the State option to label the hexagons with the name of their associated state. If you are using resolution 7 hexagons in your analysis, use the ZIP Code option to label the hexagons with their associated ZIP code.
- Use the Detailed option to label the hexagons with both their cell ID number and associated geography.
Table view
Click Table 
to view the results in a table. To explore the table, do any of the following:
- If you are using the Above and below benchmark comparison method, the table includes the benchmark values. Click Edit
on a benchmark value to enter custom values. For more information about using custom benchmark values, see Comparison methods. - Hover over an item in the table to highlight the corresponding site on the map. Depending on the comparison method, items in the table include color-coded labels that match the map styling.
- You can modify how the table appears. Click Transpose table
to switch the table's rows and columns. Click a column header to sort the table by the data in that column. Click Customize table 
to modify which columns appear in the table. Drag the name of a column to change its order in the table. Uncheck the check box next to the column name to deselect it from the table. Click the Rows per page drop-down menu to change the number of rows displayed in the table. Click Next 
or Back 
to browse the table pages. - Click Export to Excel
to export the data from the benchmark comparisons to an Excel worksheet. - Click the Options button on a site and do any of the following:
- Click Make benchmark
to make that site or statistical measure the benchmark value. This is automatically used in the Above and below benchmark comparison method. - Click Compare with geographies to open the Geography comparison window. For information about the Geography comparison window capabilities, see Use a site's pop-up menu.
- Click Zoom to site
to zoom to that site on the map. - If you are using sites, click Replace location to replace a location in the table or Remove location to remove a location from the table.
- Click Make benchmark
Summary view
Click Summary 
to view a summary of the results. To explore the summary, do any of the following:
- Use the Variable drop-down menu to select a variable to use in the box plot. Hover over the box plot to zoom in or out. Click Reset
to reset the box plot extent.
- Click Next to see a summary of the key statistics of the analysis, such as mean, median, skewness, and kurtosis.
- To learn more about these key statistics, click IQR, Skewness, or Kurtosis and read the definitions in the Overview of statistics window.
- Hover over an item in the box plot and the corresponding area is highlighted on the map.
- To customize the summary, hover over a card and click Hide card
to remove it from view. To show hidden cards, click View hidden cards. Click Show to unhide an individual card, or click Show all cards to reset the view.
Histogram view
Click Histogram 
to view the results for each variable in a histogram. To explore the histogram, do any of the following:
- Click the Settings button
and do any of the following:- By default, the Variable options are shown. Click the X-axis drop-down menu to choose the variable shown in the histogram.
- Click Visualization, and choose either the Bar or Density option. If you use the bar visualization, use the Number of bins slider to select how many bins are used in the chart. If you use the density visualization, use the Bandwidth slider to select how smooth the chart is.
- Click Outliers and do any of the following:
- Turn on the Hide outliers toggle button to hide outliers in the chart.
- Turn on the Highlight outliers toggle button to highlight high and low outliers in the chart.
- In the Outlier calculation section, choose the IQR, Percentage, or SD option. Optionally, for the percentage option, change the Top & bottom percentage value. Optionally, for the standard deviation (SD) option, change the +/- value to above or below the mean by at least one standard deviation.
- Hover over an item in the histogram and the corresponding area is highlighted on the map.
- Hover over the histogram and zoom in or zoom out using the mouse. Click Reset zoom to reset the chart extent.
- In the Statistics section, use the check boxes to show lines representing the mean and median in the histogram.
Bubble chart view
Click Bubble chart 
to view the results as a bubble chart or scatterplot. To explore the bubble chart or scatterplot, do any of the following:
- Click the Settings button and do any of the following:
- Click the Bubble chart and Scatterplot tabs to switch between chart styles.
- Click the X-axis, Y-axis, and Dot size drop-down menus to choose the variables used in the chart.
- In the Regression section, click the Model type drop-down menu to select how the regression line is modeled. To display the regression line on the bubble chart or scatterplot, turn on the Show line toggle button.
- Hover over an item in the bubble chart or scatterplot to highlight the corresponding site on the map.
- Hover over the bubble chart
or scatterplot and zoom in, zoom out, or pan using the mouse.
Hover over a bubble to view information about the location and its linear regression. Hover over the regression line to view information about the linear regression and coefficient of determination. Click Reset to reset the chart extent.
Comparison methods
The Comparison method section provides options to use for color-coding or grouping the values in the benchmark comparisons for analysis. The comparison methods are described below.
| Comparison method | Description |
|---|---|
High to low | Use color-coding to display the range of values from highest to lowest. |
Top and bottom | Highlight the top and bottom ranked values. It uses either Rank or Percentile, and you can define the Bottom value and Top value settings. |
Above and below benchmark | Use color-coding to indicate whether a value is above or below the benchmark. For the benchmark, you can use a location, the mean, the median, or a custom value. See the Set the benchmark section below for more information. |
Quantiles | Group the values by quantile. By default, this option uses four quantiles. You can set the number of quantiles. The minimum number of quantiles is 2, and the maximum number of quantiles is 10. |
Highlight extremes | Highlight values that are defined as extremes, or outliers. Choose either IQR (interquartile range) or Standard deviation (SD) to determine how a value is defined as an extreme. If you use SD, provide Less than and Greater than values.
|
Set the benchmark
Use the Above and below benchmark comparison method to set the benchmark in the analysis. You can use a location, the mean, the median, or a custom value as the benchmark.
Location
To set the benchmark as a location, do either of the following:
- Click the Benchmark drop-down menu and select a location.
- In the table in the Results pane, click the Options button for a location, and click Make benchmark .
Mean or median
To set the mean or the median as the benchmark value, click the Benchmark drop-down menu, and select Mean or Median.
Mean and median are defined as follows:
- The mean (or average) is calculated by summing all values and dividing that sum by the number of values. It gives a central point of the data.
- The median is the middle value when the data is ordered from lowest to highest. If the dataset is skewed, the median might provide a better indication of central tendency than the mean because it is less affected by extreme values or outliers, which can distort the mean.
Custom value
To set the benchmark as a custom value, set the baseline benchmark value using a location, the mean, or the median as described above. To customize the benchmark values, do either of the following:
- Select Customize benchmark values in the workflow pane. Modify the values. Click the Settings button for a variable to use advanced editing options, such as using a slider to edit the value and see how it compares to the statistical values. If you have a larger number of variables, use the Search variables field to search for variables or click Filter
to filter the variable list. Click Reset customized values to reset the values. Click Done to apply the changes. - In the table in the Results pane, click the Edit button for a benchmark variable to modify its value, and click Cancel
or Apply.
Set preferences
You can set preferences for Business Analyst Web App in the application preferences. For benchmark comparisons, you can specify preferences for the colors used to depict comparisons and the geography levels compared. Administrators can set preferences for the entire organization.
On the app header, click My preferences , expand the Maps section, expand the Run analysis section, and click Benchmark comparisons to set the following preferences:
| Preference | Description |
|---|---|
Featured lists | Check or uncheck the featured lists to display in the workflow pane. |
Fill | Use the Transparency slider to adjust the fill transparency. |
Outline | Click the Color drop-down menu to select an outline color. Set the Width value of the outline. Use the Transparency slider to adjust the color transparency. |
Benchmark outline | Click the Color drop-down menu to select a benchmark outline color. Set the Width value of the benchmark outline. Use the Transparency slider to adjust the color transparency. |
Area of interest outline | Click the Color drop-down menu to select an area of interest outline color. Set the Width value of the area of interest outline. Use the Transparency slider to adjust the color transparency. |
Comparison method | Click the drop-down menu to select a default comparison method. |
Show warning dialog after clicking on "Back" from results page | Use this check box to turn warning dialog boxes on or off. |
To restore the default settings, click Restore defaults. To save your changes, click Save, or click Save and close to close the Preferences window. To view your changes, refresh the app.
Workflow video
To see a video of this workflow, watch Run benchmark comparisons in Business Analyst Web App.