• Project Owner
• Creator

The actual number of inhabitants represented by the sample is referred to as the Population Projection.

Using Population Projection will allow you to view analysis results as population figures and see the actual size of the market. Projecting the sample data to populations will also mean that data from different markets can be combined with validity. 

Population information is required so that the project can be projected.  When there are changes in the sample structure (i.e., add/drop a city or age group), or when new census information becomes available, it is important to review weighting and population information.  

In this article

1. Weights and Projection
2. Create a new projection item
3. Projection editor
4. Define projection item
5. Updating sources
6. Exporting and Importing projection template
7. Projection item validation

1. Weights and projection

Weights are used to adjust population proportions of different variables (e.g., demographics – usually age, gender, and region). For example, when numbers of young males are under-sampled, they might get weighted up (e.g., from 15% to 18%). The total weighted sample remains the same, but the proportions of age, gender, and age/gender combinations, etc., adjust to reflect the actual population of that country better.

Projection scales the sample (i.e., the weighted sample) up to a given population level. For example, a sample size of a thousand respondents can be projected up to one million in Harmoni. 

Each respondent has a weighting factor (e.g., it might be 1.1) and a projection factor (e.g., 1000). These two are combined into one factor when calculating the Projection (i.e., 1.1 x 1000). As you create an analysis the projection factor is applied to each respondent. Any combinations of respondents are then the summation of these projected numbers.

2. Create a new projection item

In Harmoni, Projections can only be created by the Project Owner. 

To create a new projection item, select the desired position in the project tree and then choose new projection under construct from the design menu. 

You need to name your new projection item. The name that you choose, will display in your analysis. i.e. Country Projection. Once you name the projection, the Projection Editor will open.

Note: After you have created the projection, you may need to edit it at a later date. Highlight the projection item in the project tree and click library/editor. The Projection Editor will open. 

You can create multiple projection items in your project. Each project can have one projection item set as the default projection.  This means that whenever you create an analysis, the projection set as the default is applied. 

To set a default projection, select the projection item and choose set default under projection from the design menu. The default projection displays with a blue dot.

3. Projection editor

There three key areas in the projection editor pane: Market, Time and Projection.

a) Market

In the top panel, you can drag and drop the items you want your population based on; this would usually be country or market.  You only need to do this when you have more than one country in your project, and population projection figures are different. 

To add markets, you need to select the edit option and then drag the relevant axis i.e., Country. Note that you can only have one axis selected as the market.

b) Time

Any items flagged as a date type, are automatically identified as time axes and pulled into this pane.  You can also choose to edit and drag and drop time axes as needed.

c) Projection

This is the area where you can enter population projection figures. There are several ways to define a projection item, this will depend on the number of countries in your project, population changes across time periods and the combination of both. 

d) Cancel and Clear

The cancel and clear options are at the bottom of the projection editor pane. 

• Cancel doesn't save any of your actions. It shows the previously saved state.
• Clear cleans all of the fields. You can use this option if you want to replace all the population figures you have entered so far. Clear will not automatically save; if you close the editor before saving, the population figures show as they were.

4. Define Projection item

There are several ways to define a projection item.

a) Overall Projection 

This option is useful when you only have one market in your project and the population figures are consistent across all time periods.

To do this, you need to enter the total projection population figure under the Projection Total field. Selecting the option Auto-Fill time populates the relevant time axes in the project.

For example, let's say the Total Population of Country A is 2.5 million people. The sample in the survey includes respondents aged 12 to 59 years old, which would be the equivalent of 2 million people. Entering this population projection number into the Projection Total field applies this factor when creating an analysis that is Country Population = 2,000,000.

b) Projection by time

As population figures change, you may need to update the relevant time periods. 

For example, for Country A, there were 15 million people between 15 and 59 years old in 2020. The population increased to 15,250,000 in 2021 and 15,350,000 in 2022. To cater to this adjustment, you need to update all relevant time axes.

To do this, you need to expand each time axis and enter the new population figure. Having the option Auto-Fill time ticked auto-populates all elements from the point where you enter the new factor.

At the same time, you also need to adjust the Projection Total; this is usually the weighted average of both population figures (i.e., 15.1).

c) Projection by market

This option is useful when you have more than one market in your project and you want the same population projection for each country to be applied regardless of the time. 

For example, let's say the Total Population of Country A is 15 million people and the Total Population for Country B is 30 million. The sample in the survey includes respondents aged 12 to 59 years old, which would be the equivalent of 10 million people for Country A and 20 million people for Country B.

In the projection editor, after adding the relevant market axis, you can enter the projection factors for each country. You need to expand the market axis and then enter the population figures.

Note the Projection Total is automatically calculated, in this case, the summation of all country population figures (30 million).

d) Projection by market by time

This option is useful when you have more than one market in your project and there are population changes across time periods.

For example, for Country A, there were 15 million people between 15 and 59 years old in 2020. The population increased to 15,250,000 in 2021 and 15,350,000 in 2022. For Country B, there were 40 million people aged between 15 and 19 years in 2020, 41 million in 2021 and 42 million in 2022.

To cater to this adjustment, you need to update all relevant time axes for each market.  

To do this, you need to expand each time axis and enter the new population figure. Having the option Auto-Fill time ticked auto-populates all elements from the point where you enter the new factor.

At the same time, you also need to adjust the Country Projection value; this is usually the weighted average of both population figures (i.e., 15,200,000 and 41,000,000).

Note the Projection Total is automatically calculated, in this case, the summation of all country projection values (56.2 million). 

e) Inputting Nulls or Zeros

You cannot enter nulls when creating a projection. Users cannot save a projection with null projection values.

When zeros are input, they are treated as not projected, and the projection factor will be set to 1.

It is not possible to set a zero projection value. A work-around for this can be to project the value of 0.1 or similar.

5. Updating sources

When adding and/or overwriting sources, Harmoni will identify if there are any items related to projection calculations and notify when user action is required.

a) New time items auto-filled

Harmoni automatically updates the population projection in time axes during updates. Harmoni notifies you when new items have been auto-filled.

Auto-filling takes place when new elements in the source data are identified in the time axes used for projection. By default, Harmoni uses the projection figure used in the last element.

In this example project, Country A has the projection figure for February 2045 as 25 million. After adding the March 2045 data, the new element is identified, and the associated projection is auto-filled.

b) New items found in projection axes - please revise

Projection items turn red when the market and/or time definitions need to be updated by the project owner.

This will usually be the case when:

• Newly constructed elements are identified in the time axes.
• New elements are added to the Market axis.

For example, after adding March 2045 data into the project, the YTD axis needs to be updated to include the element Mar-2045 YTD.  After creating this new element, Harmoni identifies it and in the project tree, the related projection item turns red. For Countries A, B, and C the projection for Mar-2045 YTD needs to be defined. Once saved, the projection item in the project tree is no longer red.

When a new country is added to a project it will be identified as a new element in the Country axis and the related projection item turns red. Harmoni automatically adds the new county label and time periods to the projection editor. Once the projection values are entered for the new country, the projection item is no longer red.

• Open the projection editor by selecting the projection label in the tree, e.g., Country Projection, and clicking library/editor.
• Fill in the projection for the new market in the projection editor
• Press save
• The Country Projection label changes from red to black.

6. Export and Import the projection template

As the project owner, you have the ability to export and import the projection template in order to populate/update the projection values.

Open the projection editor by selecting the projection label in the tree, and clicking library/editor. At the bottom of the projection editor, you can find the export and import options. This functionality supports Excel files with extension xls and xlsx.

7. Projection Item Validation

Harmoni automatically checks projection items and will give a warning if it identifies any issues with the definitions.

When in Edit mode

Harmoni displays a warning message alerting the project owner to check the definitions.

Before Publishing 

Harmoni displays a warning message alerting the project owner before the project is published. As the project owner, you can still publish, but it is best to make sure your projection definitions are valid before proceeding.