ScreeningDichte

ScreeningDichte, or screening density, is a metric used to describe how intensively a screening process applies criteria to a set of items. It quantifies the share of incoming items that are subjected to one or more screening checks within a defined period or stage, providing a simple measure of screening workload and aggressiveness.

The basic formulation considers two quantities in a given window: N_in, the number of items entering the screening process, and N_screened, the number of items that are actually screened. ScreeningDichte D is defined as D = N_screened / N_in. In multi-stage processes, the metric can be reported for each stage or cumulatively, using stage-specific or overall denominators. A variant uses weighted screening, where different criteria carry different effort costs; in that case the density reflects the proportion of total screening effort actually applied.

Interpretation of ScreeningDichte depends on context. A higher density suggests more items are examined, which may indicate thoroughness or higher screening intensity, but it also implies greater resource use and potential reduced throughput. A lower density may save resources but risks missing targets. Because it measures process activity rather than outcome quality, D should be interpreted alongside metrics such as yield, precision, recall, and overall cost.

Applications of ScreeningDichte span various domains, including recruitment and admissions screening, medical or public health screening programs, content moderation and data filtering pipelines, and quality control workflows. Limitations include dependence on the chosen time window and screening definitions; two processes with the same density can differ markedly in effectiveness.