CRP 2026: Top 3 Barriers
This page presents the forced-choice Top 3 barriers ranking from the TABS CRP 2026 frozen dataset (N=200). Each participant selected up to three barriers from the full list of 18. Counts below reflect the number of participants who included each barrier in their top 3.
The forced-choice ranking complements the continuous Likert-based ranking shown on the Descriptive Statistics page. Comparing the two rankings surfaces which barriers rise or fall in salience when participants are forced to choose only a small number of items rather than rate every item on a continuous scale.
Top 10 by Pick Count
Pick-Based vs Mean-Based Ranking
The two rankings agree at the top two positions (B6 and B7) but diverge at position 3. Under forced choice, position 3 is B1: Resistance to change among employees or middle management.. Under the continuous Likert mean, position 3 is B13: Concerns about cybersecurity risks associated with new technologies..
The largest upward movers under forced choice (most negative deltas) are B18 (pick 10, mean 18, delta -8) and B2 (pick 11, mean 15, delta -4). The largest downward movers under forced choice (most positive deltas) are B5 (pick 17, mean 10, delta +7) and B15 (pick 16, mean 11, delta +5).
| Barrier | Pick N | Pick % | Pick Rank | Mean | Mean Rank | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B6 High cost associated with acquiring or implementing new technologies. | 75 | 37.5 | 1 | 3.4596 | 1 | 0 |
| B7 Difficulty integrating new technologies with existing legacy systems. | 73 | 36.5 | 2 | 3.3769 | 2 | 0 |
| B1 Resistance to change among employees or middle management. | 56 | 28.0 | 3 | 2.9698 | 5 | -2 |
| B14 Concerns about data privacy compliance related to new technologies. | 54 | 27.0 | 4 | 3.1750 | 4 | 0 |
| B13 Concerns about cybersecurity risks associated with new technologies. | 52 | 26.0 | 5 | 3.2600 | 3 | +2 |
| B12 New technologies disrupting existing workflows or processes significantly. | 44 | 22.0 | 6 | 2.9050 | 6 | 0 |
| B4 Insufficient skills or expertise within the workforce to utilize new technologies effectively. | 30 | 15.0 | 7 | 2.8000 | 7 | 0 |
| B10 Lack of a clear strategy or roadmap for technology adoption. | 29 | 14.5 | 8 | 2.7286 | 8 | 0 |
| B9 Difficulty demonstrating clear value (e.g., mission impact, public value, cost-effectiveness) for new technology investments. | 28 | 14.0 | 9 | 2.6050 | 9 | 0 |
| B18 Difficulty finding reliable technology vendors or partners. | 22 | 11.0 | 10 | 2.3333 | 18 | -8 |
Interpretation: Delta = Pick Rank - Mean Rank. A negative Delta means the barrier is more salient under the forced-choice task than under continuous rating (it rises when participants must prioritize), and a positive Delta means the opposite (it falls under forced choice relative to continuous rating).
Top 10 by Continuous Mean
| Barrier | Mean | SD | N |
|---|---|---|---|
| B6 High cost associated with acquiring or implementing new technologies. | 3.4596 | 1.1776 | 198 |
| B7 Difficulty integrating new technologies with existing legacy systems. | 3.3769 | 1.1822 | 199 |
| B13 Concerns about cybersecurity risks associated with new technologies. | 3.2600 | 1.2651 | 200 |
| B14 Concerns about data privacy compliance related to new technologies. | 3.1750 | 1.2816 | 200 |
| B1 Resistance to change among employees or middle management. | 2.9698 | 1.3443 | 199 |
| B12 New technologies disrupting existing workflows or processes significantly. | 2.9050 | 1.2425 | 200 |
| B4 Insufficient skills or expertise within the workforce to utilize new technologies effectively. | 2.8000 | 1.2155 | 200 |
| B10 Lack of a clear strategy or roadmap for technology adoption. | 2.7286 | 1.1963 | 199 |
| B9 Difficulty demonstrating clear value (e.g., mission impact, public value, cost-effectiveness) for new technology investments. | 2.6050 | 1.1338 | 200 |
| B5 Inadequate training programs for new technologies. | 2.6030 | 1.1273 | 199 |
Methodology
Forced-Choice Top 3 Pick Task
Participants were shown all 18 substantive barriers (IRI attention check excluded) and asked to select the three most salient barriers in their organizational context. The counts above reflect the number of participants who selected each barrier, so the column sums to at most 3N (here 3 x 200 = 600).
Continuous-Rating Mean
The continuous-rating mean is computed from the 5-point barrier Likert scale (Not a Barrier = 1 through Major Barrier = 5) across the same 18 substantive items, averaging across participants rather than summing selection counts. The sample-size column reflects the number of non-missing responses per item.
Source Data
All numbers on this page are read from src/data/crp-sensitivity-analysis.json, which is regenerated daily by the TABS analysis pipeline from the frozen CRP N=200 CSV. The pipeline script is scripts/analysis/tabs_v2_unified_data_analysis.py.