Lowell (Wolf) Stadelman

What is a KnocScore™ :

KnoC™ is short for Knowledge Credibility.

Simple explanation

KnocScore is a credit Score for knowledge. Just as a credit score reflects an individual's financial reliability when applying for a loan, KnocScore reflects a professional's proven abilities within their field. When seeking employment, a higher KnocScore translates to superior performance capabilities, leading to better job prospects and terms. For instance, professionals with a higher KnocScore are more competitive and should have greater opportunities for career growth, increased responsibilities, and larger salary offers.

In order to achieve this, a KnoCSCore is defined by the following properties:

1. A KnocScore is a 'Gold Standard' for knowledge credibility that is provided by having qualities of 1) transparency, 2) derived in such a way that the evaluation cannot be manipulated to show false values, 3) void of irrelevant influence, 4) consistent, 5) show depth in specific domains of knowledge, 6) measure understanding using trusted methods of evaluation, 7) show that there is value through investment of a scarce resource, and 8) show value to the recipient firms and industries.

2. Categories of information is based on the method's of capture of the information. To provide the 'Gold Standard' from above, and guarantee that information cited, created, studied, or interacted with was by the individual in the report and contains no errors. Would be non-valuable if it was pure. Such information can be difficult to capture, but through some abstractions and judgment we can allow separate standards as long as it is understood appropriately. Thus, categories provides understanding and allows the use of concrete and non-concrete capture methods while providing understanding of its guarantee to prevent false values such as false claims. Categories are a vote of confidence as to the data's validity.

   1. Category I is 'concrete' information that is directly captured by software that has met high standards to ensure that the data collected is free from errors and has not been manipulated to show false values. This includes third party software or software provided through our network. Category II and below are 'non-concrete' data.

   2. Category II has the highest 'non-concrete' rating by being information guaranteed by others who have a meaningful stake or loss in their reputation if false values are given. This would be an organization such as IEEE that publishes documents and where credit is given to the data and author by citations and peer reviews. These acknowledgements provide a strong authority for knowledge credibility.

   3. Category III is a non-concrete source of information, where a rating is related to a scarce resource such as a sales or captured business. Where the information reporting system has fewer means to ensure that the rated entity or individual is responsible for the sales or captured business, but there is reputation gained and lost if the information is inaccurate or the source is incorrect.

   4. Category IV is non-concrete, self-reported information that has been confirmed by a data research firm. Where the information reporting system must rely on the research institutions guarantee and where the loss of the guarantee would be significant to the institution.

   5. Category V is a weak source of information, where the rating comes from acknowledgement from others such as votes from a website or social media platform. There is little at risk for the rater when they give a false vote. There is no limit to a voter's domain expertise, e.g. anyone can vote, and frequently votes ar paid for by the thousands. This category remains important because it shows popularity. When tied to a value from a scarce resource, this can be strong although loose indicator. This category may be important to marketing.

3. Value denotes a concrete agreement that this knowledge is relevant and valuable for a specific knowledge domain. It is the amount others have paid for the knowledge that is created edited, studied, or interacted with practically. A lack of earnings does not denote a lack of value due to scarcity, timing, or demand. However, a positive number is a crowdsourced vote of confidence by peers and non-peers. Higher is generally better.

4. Hours represents time spent either creating, studying, in discussion such as video-lectures video-chat tutoring or in a study session, or in practice such as conducting activities related to a domain. E.g. writing software, managing a team, accounting, or painting a mural such as a muralist.

5. Points represents effort towards learning a knowledge domain in an academic setting. The KnocScore point system is non-standard. KnocScore incentives repetition and awards higher points for free-recall based questions. It also differs from a standard point system in that it deducts points when a question is answered incorrectly. Repeat questions when answered correctly will make up for the lost points. In some cases more points can be earned from repeat questions. Points should be considered as interaction with knowledge. In general a higher number indicates greater interaction and free-recall has been shown to be the strongest for memory retention.

6. Publications, Patents, and Citations represent acknowledged documents that have been authored or co-authored by the individual. These are documents that show expertise and agreement. This is Category II information since historically, plagiarism has plagued organizations that reward publishing such documents. Citations are acknowledgement from peers and provide credibility to the information's validness. This is recognized as showing the individuals competence within a domain.

7. Domain percentile by organization is a selectable field that provides an apples-to-apples comparison of individuals regardless of the organization they are associated with. This field allows two individuals from different universities to be compared and provides an analysis of all captured data for the individuals in that organization.

8. Skills requested by Industry provides an indicator as to the individuals readiness as provided by industry's requests for the skills they look for. This helps firms understand where an individual stands in regards with their industry.

9. Works at and Hired By provides hiring managers an understanding of the competence of individuals when peers with similar metrics are hired by large organizations.