Survey analysis often needs more than a clean dashboard.
Teams may already have weighting values prepared outside the platform. They may receive those values from a research team, a statistician, a modeling workflow, or an external data process. The challenge is getting those values into the BI reporting workflow without rebuilding analysis manually.
Import Weighting in QuestionPro BI solves that problem by giving teams a structured way to download a template, add weight values, upload the completed file, and apply the resulting scheme inside dashboards.
Why Imported Weights Matter
Not every weighting workflow starts inside the dashboard tool.
In many research programs, weights are calculated outside the reporting environment. Teams may use a preferred statistical process, a standard organizational method, or a file-based workflow that already exists across studies. Once those values are ready, the reporting team still needs a reliable way to use them in QuestionPro BI.
Import Weighting closes that gap. It lets analysts bring prepared weight values into BI and use them where decisions are actually made: dashboards and widgets.
The Customer Pain Point
Without an import workflow, weighting can become a disconnected process.
Teams may calculate weights in a spreadsheet, export survey data, manually combine files, and then rebuild reporting logic somewhere else. That slows analysis, creates version-control issues, and makes it harder to keep dashboards aligned with the latest weighting values.
It also limits flexibility. A dashboard owner may need one widget to use a weighting scheme while another remains unweighted. Or the entire dashboard may need to reflect imported weights after a new file is approved.
Import Weighting brings that control into QuestionPro BI.
Introducing Import Weighting
Import Weighting allows users to create a BI weighting scheme from a downloaded CSV or Excel template. Users select the data source, name the scheme, download the template, enter the required weight values, and upload the completed file.
Once the scheme is created, users can review the imported data, re-upload an updated template when values change, and apply the scheme at either the widget level or dashboard level.
How It Works
The workflow starts in the Weightings module of QuestionPro BI.
- Create a new weight scheme and select Import weighting.
- Choose the data source that contains the records the weights should adjust.
- Enter a clear scheme name so it can be identified later.
- Download the template in CSV or Excel format.
- Enter the required weight values in the downloaded file.
- Upload the completed template and create the scheme.
- Monitor processing from the progress panel.
- Open the created scheme to review the imported values.
If weight values change later, users can re-upload an updated template and replace the existing imported data without starting the entire workflow over.
Apply Weighting Where It Matters
Imported weighting schemes can be applied at two levels.
- Widget level: apply the imported scheme only to a selected widget through the widget Analytics settings.
- Dashboard level: apply the imported scheme across the dashboard through the dashboard Weightings settings.
This flexibility helps analysts control exactly where imported weights should influence reporting. A team can keep one widget focused on weighted analysis while preserving other views for comparison, or apply the scheme broadly when the full dashboard should use the same weighting logic.
A Practical Use Case
Imagine a research team that calculates weighting values after fieldwork using an approved internal model.
The BI dashboard is ready, but the final reporting should use those externally prepared weights. Instead of rebuilding reports outside the platform, the team downloads the import template, adds the approved values, uploads the file, and applies the imported weighting scheme to the dashboard.
If the model is revised, the team can re-upload the updated template and continue working from the same BI workflow.
The Bottom Line
Import Weighting helps teams connect external weighting work with in-platform BI reporting.
It gives analysts a structured template workflow, supports CSV and Excel files, allows re-upload when values change, and applies imported schemes at the widget or dashboard level.
The result is simpler governance, faster reporting, and more control over how weighted analysis appears in QuestionPro BI dashboards.
