Aggregation logic
Most business answers involve aggregation, combining many rows into a number. How the rows are combined changes the answer.
What aggregation means
Summarise
Sum, count, or average values.
Sum, count, or average values.
Group
Break the result down, by month, customer, product, region.
Break the result down, by month, customer, product, region.
Sort
Order the result, highest first, most recent first, top N.
Order the result, highest first, most recent first, top N.
Filter
Decide which rows are included before combining them.
Decide which rows are included before combining them.
Why unclear aggregation gives different answers
“Average order value” can mean different things depending on which orders are included and how they are grouped. A small change in the grouping or filter can produce a very different number, which is why a clear question matters.
When a question is ambiguous about how to combine the data, STYD may ask you to clarify, or choose a reasonable approach and disclose the assumption in the answer. Check those assumptions.
Definitions matter
Clear definitions (descriptions in the AI Guide, your terms and definitions in Brief your assistant) help STYD aggregate consistently, so the same question gives the same shape of answer each time.