ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Absolute Category Rating

Imagine you have a toy box full of toys, like balls, dolls, blocks, and more. Now imagine you want to organize these toys by how much you like them. One way to do this is by using absolute category rating.

You can start by creating different categories or groups for your toys. For example, you might have a category for toys you really love, toys you like, and toys you don't care for.

Next, you can go through each toy one by one and decide which category it belongs in. For example, you might put your favorite toy in the "really love" category, a toy you play with sometimes in the "like" category, and a toy you never play with in the "don't care for" category.

The categories are "absolute" because they are fixed and don't change depending on other toys. So even if you get a new favorite toy, it will still fit in the "really love" category while the other toys remain in their respective categories.

So, in real life, people use absolute category rating to sort and rank things according to their preferences, like movies, books, or even job applicants. It's a simple way to organize and evaluate different options based on set criteria.