There's A Stat For That

For my day job, my responsibilities are to inspire performance, innovate products, improve the environment, invest in people, and ultimately to make a profit for my business unit. To do many of these things, I rely heavily on making data-based decisions.

As a Quiz Coach, I try to do the same when it is applicable. While I do rely on the Holy Spirit’s leading of my heart when it comes to interacting and mentoring the teens, I do use statistics at times to refine individual study and game-situation strategies. For example:

• Jaqueline is getting more than her share of According To questions during competition. Perhaps I should encourage her and provide resources to make those her specialty in the future.
• Blake and Aaron answer a lot of Context questions. I should put them on different teams so they don’t compete against each other for that question every game.
• It’s Question 16. What’s the probability that the last Memory Verse question will be asked next? Should I substitute my bench player now or wait?
• What are my quizzers’ current averages for this tournament? Who should I start the next game?

In a previous post, I shared how to download and use ​Nazarene TBQ score sheets for iOS Numbers. Out of my own desire for more real-time analytical data and an improved question type prediction algorithm, I’ve made significant enhancements to that spreadsheet. Here’s what’s new:

1. Tracks Your Quizzer's Averages for the Tournament

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​Of course, it only tracks the averages for the games captured in the file. But as a coach, you will most likely be capturing every game for your team at the tournament (or practice). By putting your quizzers’ names on the Averages tab, it will automatically update as the games are completed.

If you update the names of the Teams on each score sheet, it will also track Total Points and Points Per Game (PPG) for those teams represented in the file.

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2. Percent Correct for each Question Type for the Tournament

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​What types of questions are missed or not attempted most often? Strategically, I use the information on this Summary tab to guide the study for certain quizzers. If Context questions are a low statistic, for example, then that could be an opportunity for Denise or Timothy to capture.

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3. Percent Correct for each Question Type by Quizzer

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​Use the Details tab to very quickly see which types of questions are answered by your quizzers. If using the Scoresheets in a practice, use this tab to determine how to create balanced teams. 

Checking the boxes next to several names updates that grouping's total at the bottom of the table. 

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4 Improved Probability Algorithm for Question Types

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​During competition, track the types of questions being asked by tapping the question number and selecting the proper code for that question. The algorithm knows which questions have already been asked and takes into account that it is highly improbable for Memory Verses to be asked back-to-back when calculating the probability of the next question’s type.

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​Since making these improvements, I’ve only used it once for a real tournament. If you have iOS Numbers, check that out here. (Once the page loads, tap the screen and choose Open in "Numbers")

If you decide to give it a try, let me know how it goes! And if you can think of any other useful way to parse the data, send me a note or comment below. I’m kind of a geek when it comes to that sort of stuff!

Download ready-to-use files:

For iOS Numbers on iPad: Nazarene TBQ Score Sheet. Once the file loads, either tap the screen and choose Open in "Numbers" or tap the "send" icon next to the address bar and choose Copy to Numbers.
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For MS Excel on PC/Surface: Nazarene TBQ Score Sheet