Areas That Require Less Focus (cont.)
Sub-Category Respondents
% of
Category
Total
Dependents with Special Needs 6 1%
Employee Benefits 4 1%
International Planning 3 0%
Appendix G: Importance Ranking Methodology
To determine which research categories were deemed to
need more or less research by industry professionals a ranking
algorithm was developed. First, a weight was established for
each category based on the level of consensus and volume of
category selection. To arrive at their importance rank, the
weights were then multiplied by that categories position in the
cumulative normal distribution, based on the number of
articles. The methodology has some slight variation depending
on whether it needed more or less research. The rank for
Estate Distribution Analysis is calculated as follows:
Category = Estate Distribution Analysis
More research = MR = 90
Less research = LR = 6
Magnitude = MR + LR = Mag = 96
Net = MR – LR = Net = 84
Consensus = C = |Net/Mag| = |84/96| = 87.5%
Importance Weight (Category Total Estate Planning) = C x
Net/Topics in Category = 0.59 x 453/7 = 38.22
Importance Weight (Sub-Categories) = C x Net = 0.875 x 84 =
73.5
*Note that the weight becomes negative for
categories that need less research.
Areas That Require Less Focus (cont.)
Sub-Category Respondents
% of
Category
Total
Dependents with Special Needs 6 1%
Employee Benefits 4 1%
International Planning 3 0%
Appendix G: Importance Ranking Methodology
To determine which research categories were deemed to
need more or less research by industry professionals a ranking
algorithm was developed. First, a weight was established for
each category based on the level of consensus and volume of
category selection. To arrive at their importance rank, the
weights were then multiplied by that categories position in the
cumulative normal distribution, based on the number of
articles. The methodology has some slight variation depending
on whether it needed more or less research. The rank for
Estate Distribution Analysis is calculated as follows:
Category = Estate Distribution Analysis
More research = MR = 90
Less research = LR = 6
Magnitude = MR + LR = Mag = 96
Net = MR – LR = Net = 84
Consensus = C = |Net/Mag| = |84/96| = 87.5%
Importance Weight (Category Total Estate Planning) = C x
Net/Topics in Category = 0.59 x 453/7 = 38.22
Importance Weight (Sub-Categories) = C x Net = 0.875 x 84 =
73.5
*Note that the weight becomes negative for
categories that need less research.