G'day, thanks for your interest in how we calculate an experience's ranking score. It's at the core of Rankers so I'm pleased you're curious.

The ranking score percentage is used to compare and sort experiences in ranking tables. It is not necessarily a direct measurement of the quality of a particular experience as rated by its customers. I've found it a useful tool to allow me to find the best experiences with confidence. But I've also found it important to read the customer reviews before making any final judgements!

We calculate an experience's ranking score using a multi-factor data model instead of a raw data average (mean). This model takes into account several important questions. For instance - is there a trusted body of reviews? What is the age of a review and is the review from a credible source?

Below you'll find details around some of the important factors that went into calculating the ranking score for Taieri Gorge Railway.

If you have any questions or comments about our ranking score calculation please get in touch at info@rankers.co.nz. We don't believe this is perfect or complete so we're always interested in ways we might make improvements.

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Cymen Crick's avatar

Cymen Crick

Rankers Owner

Taieri Gorge Railway

Valid Reviews

68 Valid Reviews

The Taieri Gorge Railway experience has a total of 68 valid reviews. There are no invalid reviews that are excluded from the calculation. Reviews can be excluded only when a reviewer is not verified or after an investigation by our team determines the reviewer is not genuine.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 68 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 18
26%
9/10 19
28%
8/10 17
25%
7/10 6
9%
6/10 4
6%
5/10 2
3%
4/10 1
1%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

83.82% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Taieri Gorge Railway valid reviews is 83.82% and is based on 68 valid reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here as a comparison to the weighted average.

Face-to-Face Reviews

62 Face-to-Face Reviews

The Rankers team meets with travellers while they’re in New Zealand and conducts face-to-face surveys. These reviews, in our opinion, are the most trusted in the industry and represent a critical control sample. To our knowledge, we are the only travel review website in the world that has gone to this extent.

More about face-to-face reviews

Within the 68 valid reviews, the experience has 62 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 62 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 14
23%
9/10 17
27%
8/10 17
27%
7/10 6
10%
6/10 4
6%
5/10 2
3%
4/10 1
2%
3/10 1
2%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

82.58% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Taieri Gorge Railway face-to-face reviews is 82.58% and is based on 62 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

85.75%

Rankers calculates a weighted mean as a base average on which we can improve. Individual review's ratings are given a weight based on several factors. The weight of a review determines the overall impact it'll have on the final weighted average.

Recent reviews have more weight as they are more relevant and reflect the experience as it currently operates. Over time reviews become less relevant and loose their impact on the ranking score.

Low rating reviews carry slightly less weight. This dampens the effect of very low ratings for every experience across the board. This is especially important when the experience has few reviews overall and a single negative rating can grossly mischaracterise an experience. Consistent poor reviews will still result in the experience receiving a comparitively low ranking score.

Credible sources provide reviews that can be trusted. If we have verified a reviewer is genuine via a face-to-face meeting then the review carries additional weight.

Reviewer Rating Age Relative Weight
Vicki Hoskinson 10/10 2146 days 100%
Wil Goes 7/10 3267 days 46%
Eric Lambley 7/10 3684 days 28%
Trish Saunders 9/10 4025 days 15%
Kath Tonkin 9/10 4025 days 15%
Fabian Lee 6/10 4031 days 13%
Elly Zimmer 7/10 4039 days 13%
Kerri 9/10 4154 days 9%
Sylvia Klatt 3/10 4307 days 1%
Pete Wilson 9/10 4324 days 2%
Willem de Jong 9/10 4359 days 0%
Mike Edwards 10/10 4413 days 22%
Signe Kaspersen 8/10 4697 days 22%
Les Barnes 9/10 4712 days 22%
Karl Brachtl 10/10 4712 days 22%
Beeny 8/10 4713 days 22%
Michael & Janet 9/10 4713 days 22%
Nico Schoots 7/10 4714 days 21%
Hazel & Alan Damerell 10/10 4714 days 22%
Nico Welagen 9/10 4718 days 22%
Horst Langstein 9/10 4725 days 22%
Des & Ann Bidwell 10/10 4727 days 22%
Colin Jenkins 8/10 4743 days 22%
Stanton 9/10 4763 days 22%
John & Lorraine 8/10 5048 days 22%
Juergen Wolf 9/10 5059 days 22%
Malcolm McLean 8/10 5059 days 22%
Erin 6/10 5060 days 19%
Laurie Smith 8/10 5060 days 22%
David Mellard 10/10 5061 days 22%
Zuur 8/10 5066 days 22%
Paul Smith 8/10 5075 days 22%
Robert Haidt 10/10 5090 days 22%
Robin Schomburg 10/10 5094 days 22%
Lizzie 10/10 5159 days 22%
Rosey834 10/10 5159 days 22%
Margie 10/10 5412 days 22%
Kerry Wood 10/10 5436 days 22%
Giaque 5/10 5440 days 17%
Chris & Dawn Humphries 9/10 5441 days 22%
Maria Newton 8/10 5444 days 22%
J Kempeneers 8/10 5448 days 22%
Beverly B 8/10 5476 days 22%
ianc 10/10 5516 days 22%
koellner 4/10 5522 days 14%
Deede K 9/10 5532 days 22%
Kathrin Thomas 8/10 5536 days 22%
Ruth Kinder 10/10 5554 days 22%
harryb 8/10 5633 days 22%
regw 10/10 5644 days 22%
gerrys 8/10 5723 days 22%
streneer 10/10 5755 days 22%
SSheil 10/10 5756 days 22%
Mike 7/10 5772 days 21%
Roy 9/10 5772 days 22%
A 10/10 5799 days 22%
SimonR 9/10 5802 days 22%
VacherD 8/10 5803 days 22%
Paul 7/10 5811 days 21%
john west 8/10 5836 days 22%
jonathan 9/10 5889 days 22%
martina 8/10 5965 days 22%
Esther 6/10 5974 days 19%
Helen 9/10 6118 days 22%
Liz 9/10 6151 days 22%
Sue 6/10 6486 days 19%
Cat 5/10 6498 days 17%
Franz-Josef 9/10 6550 days 22%

Adjustments

Several adjustments to the weighted average are added to improve relevancy and credibility. These adjustments apply equally to all experiences that meet the criteria.

Sample Size Adjustment

No Adjustment

A reasonable number of reviews are necessary in order for the average to be credible and for an experience to take a prime position within the ranking tables. As such, experiences with only a few reviews have a moderated score. This does not mean that the experience or the reviews can't be trusted. The Taieri Gorge Railway experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.08% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 45 days. However the Taieri Gorge Railway experience does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

In addition, an experience's ranking score may be adjusted for each day there is no new ranking. After 1 day the adjustment comes into effect. The maximum number of days that can be adjusted for is 200 days. Due to the seasonal nature of many businesses, this adjustment is applied dynamically throughout the year.

The Taieri Gorge Railway experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -4.02%
198 -4.04%
199 -4.06%
200 -4.08%
201 -4.10%
202 -4.12%
203 -4.14%

Balancing Adjustment

2.56% Adjustment

Every experience's review score is adjusted to balance out the disproportional number of negative reviews that are contributed.

You won't be surprised to learn that disgruntled customers are more likely to leave a review than happy ones. They are motivated to share their experience and warn others. We consider this a good thing and it's why reading the reviews is important. However we've learned it can misrepresent the experience in a more overall sense.

We apply a balancing adjustment to counteract this effect and ensure the ranking score is a more fair representation of the experience. This adjustment is applied equally to all experiences.

Final Ranking Score

84%

The final ranking score once any adjustments, ratings, and rounding has been applied. This value is recalculated each day and a short rolling average is applied. Therefore it may not be precisely accurate based on the other values presented.