About Pharos - Data Confidence Scoring

Data Confidence Scoring

Step 1: Base Points:

Base points are determined by the data type specified.

10% - User Opinion
Informed and uninformed assertions

20% - Manufacturer's Unpublished Undocumented Claim
Confidential disclosure

30% - Industry Average or Norm
Study of the norms in the industry, such as a multi-product or generic LCA.

40% - Manufacturer's Published Claim or Verification Search
Claim in or negative search of manufacturer published print or website material.

50% - Manufacturer's Self Certification
Manufacture claim based on a standard based assessment.

60% - Manufacturer's Documented Claim
Manufacture claim based on documented assessment.

70% - Second Party Certification
Certification that is only nominally independent due to being carried out by a trade association, vendor or other interested party

80% - Third Party Assessment
Process assessment such as a product specific LCA study carried out by a third party.

90% - Third Party Verification
Product test or audit carried out and certified by an independent third party or a third party assessment that is peer reviewed.

Step 2: Source/Data Qualifier:

Base points are further qualified by Pharos review and evaluation of the source cited, and scored as follows:

High (+10%)
Medium (No Change)
Low (-10%)

This is a qualitative, subjective assessment. Default is Medium (no points added or subtracted). Assessment includes the independence and reputation of all sources. Evaluation of cited research also includes consideration of scope, completeness (data gaps), and peer review. History of reliability and behavior and reliability of sources including users is considered in the rating.

Step 3: Data Point Confidence Rating:

The sum of the base points and the source/data qualifiers determines this rating. For example a low quality third party assessment rates a 60, as does a high quality industry norm.

Step 4: Wedge Confidence Rating:

The average of the confidence ratings for individual data points is used to rate the overall wedge confidence level.

Step 5: Community Product Rating:

Constructed by selecting the datapoints with the highest confidence ratings across all ratings for this product. Together, these will form the Pharos rating for a product.