Single Sentiment Score from Text
This workflow converts text responses into one sentiment category per response, then into a single numeric score (mean).
It is useful when you want one headline sentiment metric, but still keep full category detail.
1Single sentiment score walkthrough
Where to find it
- Open a Text column.
- Click AI Coding / Tagging.
- Click Get started.
- Select I want to analyze the text into themes or other categories.
Step 1: set sentiment categories
For this workflow, use a manual code list so you control the sentiment scale.
- Click I have codes.
- Add sentiment labels (one per line), for example:
- Very negative
- Negative
- Neutral
- Positive
- Very positive
- Click Continue.
- (Optional) refine code descriptions to improve consistency.
Tip: Use clear text labels first. You can map them to numbers later.
Step 2: apply one code per response
- In the review/apply step, select Apply One Code Per Record.
- Choose your model (for example, Fast for speed).
- Click Apply Codes.
This creates a new categorical sentiment column with one sentiment label per row.
Step 3: convert sentiment labels to numeric values
- Open the new sentiment column.
- Click Assign numbers.
- Map labels to an ordered scale (for example, Very negative = 1 ... Very positive = 5).
- Click Save.
Now the sentiment column can be summarized as a numeric score.
Step 4: view the single sentiment score
- Switch from distribution to stats view:
- In many charts this appears as Box/Dot Plot | Bins (choose Box/Dot Plot), or
- In some layouts it appears as Key Stats | Ranges (choose Key Stats).
- If shown, choose Mean in Box Plot | Mean.
- Turn on Show numbers on chart if you want exact values shown on the chart.
The mean value is your single sentiment score.
Compare groups or view overall
- By group: Add a pivot (for example, by segment, region, or customer type) to compare average sentiment scores between groups.
- Overall: Remove pivots to show one overall sentiment mean for the full selection.
Why this workflow is useful
- You get one easy-to-track numeric metric.
- You still keep the full label breakdown (Very negative to Very positive).
- You can switch between detailed categorical view and summary score view in the same column.
Related guides
- For assigning values to labels: Assign Numbers
- For theme-level sentiment by topic: Topic-Based Sentiment Analysis
- For iterative coding and refinement: Thematic Coding (Iterative)