Results > Summary Table

• When a Zigzag project is opened, the results are posted by default in a summary table, which corresponds to the menu Results > Summary Table (the item is checked automatically):
  
  

• The results for all the readers are posted. The options checked determine the nature of the results posted:
  
  

  Trial: Choice of the test of interest (i.e. 1, 2, 3, ...) when there are multiple trials for a given test (cf. Note 1). Score (%): Percent of segments correctly identified on the first try (cf. Note 2). Time (sec.): Average time per segment (cf. Note 3). Summary (%): Composite performance value based on the score and the average time, in varying ratios (cf. Note 4). Code(s): When all options are checked, the success rate, time and summary score are always posted for the whole text. When the option Code(s) is checked, this same information is also posted by codes. If there are no codes, this option is unavailable. Questionnaire(s): When this option is checked, the results concerning the questions are presented globally (cf. Note 5). If there are no multiple-choice questions or true-false questions, this option is unavailable.

  
  
• The checked options are what determine how the results are posted in the matrix. Only the first three columns (Rank, Name, Trial) of the matrix are always posted. Thus, results for a text with two codes and a questionnaire can give rise to up to twelve columns (success rate, time and summary score for the whole text, as well as for each code and the questionnaire). For a result to be posted, at least one of the boxes Score, Time, and Summary must be checked.
  
  
• The readers' results for a given test are displayed in ascending order as pertains to the time (from the fastest reader to the slowest) and in descending order for the success rate and summary score (from the reader with the best score to the one with the worst score). To sort the results by a specific column, (for example, Time), click on its heading. The selected column will be highlighted in yellow, with the results of the matrix presented in ascending order for reading times displayed in this yellow column.
  
  
• By default, the matrix for a given test displays the results for all readers having taken that test. However, you can use the menu Display > Reader(s) to exclude to exclude certain readers from the results. The calculation of the result averages will be adjusted as readers are excluded.
  

Note 1. The command Tools > Build Test Sequence of the Zigzag Generator allows you to determine if the tests can be taken repeatedly by the same reader.



When a test can be taken more than once, the scroll-down menu Trial of the Zigzag Calculator determines which test is displayed (the first trial, the second trial, …) When a reader has attempted a test three times, the number 3 will then be an option in the scroll-down menu. When 3 is selected, the results obtained on this third trial of the test are those displayed. However, if a reader has made only one or two attempts, the results on the last attempt will be displayed (i.e. the first and the second, respectively). By default, the results for the first trial are displayed. If a reader quits a test without completing it, Zigzag Calculator will show «cancelled» instead of a numerical result:

Note 2. The success rate corresponds to the percentage of segments (i.e. target-segments) correctly identified on the first try. In the case of text to be read which comprises many segments without distractors, the success rate calculated may overestimate a reader's true performance, since all segments without distractors are automatically considered correct. Thus, a text with 100 segments of which only 10 are coupled with distractors would lead to a score equal or greater than 90 %. To avoid such situations, it is useful to define a specific code to regroup the segments with distractors only. In the case of the example cited, a reader having failed on all 10 segments with distractors would thus have a score of 0 %, which seems to report his performance more accurately than a score of 90 %.

Note 3. The first version of Zigzag Reader gave the option of calculating the average time for the segments of a text, whether these segments were correctly answered on the first try or not (GAT: Global Average Time), as well as for correctly answered segments only (CAT: Correct Average Time). In version 2, only the global average time (GAT) is calculated, and is simply called "average time". This simplification was necessary considering the pedagogical aims of Zigzag Reader. (For more advanced statistical analysis in a research context, it is still possible to calculate the CAT value by exporting the data in csv format with the help of the command File > Export … of the Zigzag Calculator. Files in csv format can be opened with Excel.)

Note 4. One of the functions of the Zigzag Calculator consists in calculating, for each reader, a summary score based on the score and reading time. The underlying algorithm to the summary score allows the teacher or researcher to attribute different weights to these two measures. For example:

• 50 : 50 - The score and reading time contribute equally to the summary score;
• 75 : 25 - This option gives more importance to the score than to the reading time;
• etc.

While each teacher is free to establish the relative weight of the two measures as a function of his particular objectives, 75 : 25 is displayed as the default value. With this weighting, the score contributes 75 % of the summary score, with the reading time contributing 25 %.

• Note 5. Results for comprehension questions (multiple choice, true-false) are always calculated globally for all the text questions to be read, independently of whether they are grouped as one questionnaire or not. For example, a ten-question questionnaire presented at the end of the text will give rise to the same kind of results table as two five-question questionnaires presented at two different places in the text. In both cases, score, summary and time are calculated over all ten questions.
  
  
  
• Summary Table of Commands