Facts and Counts

In Analysis, facts are the numerical amounts and percentages you track with insights, such as performance towards a goal.

By default, most facts provide the sum — or total — of its records. With some facts, you can choose to analyze a different amount when used with an insight. To choose which amount to track, select the fact under Facts and select the calculation to use. When you design a table with at least one fact and attribute, you can also apply these calculations to a column's values.

To help identify the typical amount of a fact's records, select Average for the total amount divided by the number of records.

With Maximum and Minimum, you can analyze the extreme amounts of the records.

  • To analyze the lowest amount of the records, select Minimum.

  • To analyze the highest amount of the records, select Maximum.

To analyze the middle amount of the records, such as to determine whether they trend high or low, select Median. Half of the records are above this amount, and half are below.

With Sum and Running sum, you can analyze the total amount of a fact.

  • To analyze the total amount across a fact's records, select Sum. For example, for year-over-year giving over three years, Sum provides the total raised during each year.

  • To analyze the cumulative amount over time, select Running sum. When used with a Date attribute, the fact adds the total amounts across the time period intervals. In the same example of year-over-year giving, Running sum provides how much was raised during the first year, in total over the first two years, and across all three years.

In short, Sum provides the total for a specific time period, while Running sum provides the total for a specific time period plus any previous periods.

In Analysis, you use facts to track totals and counts with insights.

In Analysis, Report builder, you can design insights to analyze facts or counts across different characteristics — or attributes — of records.

  • To analyze a fact with an insight, move it from all data or facts in the data catalogue to Facts.

  • To analyze the number — or count — of records of a specific type, move its attribute from all data or attributes in the data catalogue to Facts.

By default, a fact or count includes all records of its type. To adjust a fact or count, select it under Facts and edit its settings.

  • When you apply an attribute to the insight, it automatically breaks the fact or count down to the total records across the criteria. To instead show the percentage of records across the attribute, select show in %.

  • For year-over-year analysis, apply a Date attribute and select compare the same period in previous year.

By default, a fact or count includes all records of its type. While you can apply filters to an overall insight, you can also apply filters directly to a fact or count to include records based on shared characteristics or time period.

  • To include records based on shared characteristics, select the fact or count under Facts, select Add attribute filter, and choose the criteria of those to include.

  • To include records based on time period:

    1. Under Facts, select the fact or count, and select Filter by date.

    2. Choose the type of date — such as when records are added — to include.

    3. Choose the date range of the records to include.

      • For a general date range such as Last month or 2 quarters ago, choose the desired time frame.

      • For a specific date range, select Range, choose its start and end dates, and select Apply.

    Note: When you apply a date filter to a fact, it ignores the date range set by the insight's date filter. However, it respects the type of date set by the insight's date filter.

    Tip: To compare time periods, such as to gauge growth over multiple consecutive years, add multiple instances of a fact to an insight, and filter each to its own date range.

Tip: To filter the overall insight and not just its fact or count, move the attribute to filter by to Filters and choose the criteria of the records to include.

When you design a table, column or bar chart, line chart, or headline, you can compare its facts' performance time-over-time, such as to the same period the previous year.

  1. In Insight Designer, add the facts to analyze with the insight.

  2. Move the Date attribute from the data catalogue to Filters, and then select the Date filter.

  3. In the Date as field, choose the type of date — such as when records are added — to include.

  4. In the Period field, choose the time frame to analyze.

  5. In the Compare the period with field, choose to time frame to compare, such as Same period last year.

  6. Under Apply on, choose which of the insight's facts to compare time-over-time.

    Note: If you select All facts, the time-over-time comparison applies to any new facts added to the insight. The time-over-time comparison doesn't apply to any facts that already include a date filter.

  7. Select Apply.

  8. Under Facts, the comparison facts automatically appear above each corresponding fact, with the comparison period appended to their names. Sort, rename, and adjust the facts as necessary.

When you create a bar, column, or area chart, you can choose whether you want to view your data as absolute values or as proportions of the total.

After you add a fact to your insight, add an attribute under Stack by. Then, you can select Stack to 100% to view the data as proportions of the total, so you can see the relative contribution of each value.

In Analysis, Report builder, you can design tables to view facts and attributes as rows and columns, similar to a spreadsheet. When you design a table with at least one fact and attribute, you can apply a calculation — such as sum, average, or median — to a column's values.

  • To calculate a column, hover over the column, select ∑, and choose the calculation to apply.

    Tip: To apply the same calculation as the column's fact to the overall fact instead of the column's values, select Rollup (total). For example, with a column of averages, Rollup (total) provides the average of the overall fact, not the average of the column's averages.

  • To add the same calculation to multiple columns, hover over the calculation's row under the column, and select +.

Tip: To remove a calculation from a single column, select its X. To remove a calculation from all columns, select its row's X.

For more information, see Insights.