Insight Elements Values Explained

Why topic totals may exceed category totals

Why topic totals inside a category can be higher than the category total

In Caplena, all chart values and percentages are calculated on a respondent level — every number represents how many respondents mentioned something, not how many topic assignments exist.

Because of this, it is expected and correct that:

The sum of all topics inside a category can be higher than the category’s total.

How counts in charts work

Category counts — the number of respondents who mentioned any topic in that category. Each respondent is counted once, even if their answer matches multiple topics inside the category.

Topic counts — the number of respondents who mentioned that specific topic. If a respondent mentions multiple topics, they count once for each.

This is why topic totals can exceed the category total: topic counts include multiple mentions from the same respondent, while the category count includes each respondent only once. This is intentional and reflects the true underlying data structure.

Example: “PRODUCT QUALITY”

Category: PRODUCT QUALITY — 38.2%

This means 38.2% of all respondents mentioned something about Product Quality. Each respondent is counted once, even if their answer covers several quality aspects.

Topics inside PRODUCT QUALITY:

• Picture Quality — 18.4%
• Reliability — 16%
• Durability — 6.8%
• Sound Quality — 6%

Adding these up exceeds 38.2% — and that’s correct, because a single respondent can match multiple topics within the same category.

Real-world example

Caplena assigned this response three topics:

• Picture Quality (under PRODUCT QUALITY)
• Sound Quality (under PRODUCT QUALITY)
• Accessories (under PRODUCT FEATURES)

Numerically, this respondent counts:

• 1 for Picture Quality
• 1 for Sound Quality
• 1 total for PRODUCT QUALITY (the category)

They do not count twice in the category even though they triggered two topics within it.