Norms

NORMS
Norms
 Withinour society, we have what are
known as social norms which are
standards that we are encouraged to
live by in terms of what is right and wrong
& acceptance or unacceptable when it
comes to beliefs & behaviors
Test Norms
 Test norms consist of data that make it
possible to determine the relative standing of
an individual who has taken a test. By itself, a
subject’s raw score (e.g., the number of
answers that agree with the scoring key) has
little meaning. Almost always, a test score
must be interpreted as indicating the
subject’s position relative to others in some
group. Norms provide a basis for comparing
the individual with a group.
Basically there are two purposes of norms:
 Norms indicate the individual’s relative standing

in the normative sample and thus permit
evaluation of his/her performance in refer to
other persons.
 Norms provide compared measures that

permitted a direct comparison of the individual
performance on difference test.
Sir Francis Galton at the first time developed the logic for
norm based testing in the 18th century.
1. Frequency distribution: A major object of statistical
method is to organize and summarize quantitative data in
order to facilitate their understanding.
 A list of 1000 test scores can be an overwhelming sight. In
that form it conveys little meaning.
 A first step In bringing order into such a chaos of raw data
is to tabulate the scores into a frequency distribution.
 A distribution is prepared by grouping the scores
into convenient class intervals and tallying each score in
the appropriate interval.
 When all scores have been entered the tallies are
counted to find the frequency, or number of cases, in
each class interval. The sum of these frequencies will
equal N, the total number of cases in the group.
2. Graphical representation: The information provided
by a frequency distribution can also be presented
graphically in the form of a distribution curve.
 On the baselines, or horizontal axis, are the scores
grouped into class intervals; on the vertical axis are the
frequencies or number of cases falling within each
class interval.
 The graph has been plotted in two ways. In the
histogram, the height of the column over each class
interval corresponds to the number of persons scoring
in that interval.
 In the frequency polygon, the number of persons in
each interval is indicated by a point in the center of
the class interval and across from the appropriate
frequency. The successive points are then joined by
straight lines.
3. Central Tendency: A group of scores can also be described
in terms of some measure of central tendency.
 The most familiar of these measures is the average, more
technically known as the mean (M), and it is found by
adding all sores and dividing the sum by the number of
cases (N).
 Another measure is the mode, or most frequent score.
 A third measure of central tendency is the median or
middlemost score when all scores have been arranged in
order of size.
 The medial is the point that bisects the distribution, half the
cases falling above it and half below.
4. Variability: Further description of a set of test
scores is given by measures of variability, or the
extent of individual differences around the central
tendency.
 The most obvious and familiar way for reporting
variability is in terms of range between the highest
and lowest score.
 A single unusually high or low score would thus
markedly affect its size.
 A more precise method of measuring variability is
based on the difference between each
individual’s score and the mean of the group.
Types of Norms
Norms
Within-
Developmental
Group
Mental Ordinal T- Z-
Grade Percentiles
Age Scales Scores Scores
Equivalent
Developmental Norms
 One way in which meaning can be attached
to test scores is to indicate how far along the
normal developmental path the individual has
progressed.
 Developmental systems utilize more highly

qualitative descriptions of behavior in specific
functions, such as sensorimotor activities or
concept formation.
1. Mental Age: The term “mental age’ was widely
popularized through the various translations and
adaptations of the Binet-Simon scales, although
Binet himself had employed the more neutral
term “mental Level”. In age scales such as the
Bind and its revisions (prior to 1986), items were
grouped into year levels.
 For example, those items passed by the
majority of 7-years olds in the standardization
sample were placed in the 7-year level, and
so forth.
 A child’s score on the test would then
correspond to the highest year level that he
or she could successfully complete In actual
practice, the individual’s some tests below
their mental age and passed some above it.
For this reason, it was customary to compute
the basal age, that is, the highest age at and
below which all tests were passed.
2. Grade Equivalents: Scores on educational
achievement tests are often interpreted in terms
of grade equivalents. Grade norms are found by
computing the mean raw score obtained by
children in each grade.

 Thus, if the average number of problems
solved correctly on an arithmetic test by the
fourth graders in the standardization sample is
23, then a raw score of 23 corresponds to
grade equivalents of 4.
3. Ordinal Scales: Ordinal scales are designed to
identify the stage reached by the child in the
development of specific behavior functions.
 Although scores may be reported in terms of

approximate age levels, such scores are
secondary to qualitative description of the
child’s characteristics behavior.
 The ordinarily of such scales refers to the uniform
progression of development through successive
stages.
 in so far as these scales typically provide
information about what the child is actually able
to do(e.g. climbs stairs without assistance;
recognizes identity in quantity of liquid when
poured into differently shaped containers), they
share important features with the domain-
referenced tests.
Within Group Norms
These norms are used to equate a
person’s performance in
comparison to the performance of
one or more appropriate reference
group.
 1. Z-Scores: A z-score tells us how many
standard deviation someone is above or below
the mean.
 Simply put, the mean of the distribution is given
the z value of zero and its standard deviation is
counted by ones.
 A z-score 0f -1.4 indicates that someone is 1.4
standard deviation below the mean.
 To calculate a z-score, subtract the mean from
the raw score and divide that answer by the
standard deviation
 i.e. raw score = 14, M = 10, SD = 4 then
z-sore = 1.25
 2. T-Score: T-score are a conversion of raw individual
scores into a standard form, where the conversion is made
without knowledge of population’s SD
 Where
x̄ = sample mean
μ0 = population mean
s = sample standard deviation
n = sample size
 The scale has a mean set at 50 and a SD at 10

T = 50 + 10 x z-score
 An advantage of using t-scores is that none of the scores
are negative
 3. Percentile Ranks: the most common form of
norms and is the simplest method of presenting
test data for comparative purposes.
 Represent the % of the norm group that earned a
raw score less than or equal to the score of that
particular individual.
 i.e. a score at the 50 percentile indicates that the
individual did as well better on the test than 50%
of the norm group.
 When a test score is compared to several
different norm groups, percentile ranks may
change
 i.e. %ile rank on math may be lower when
comparing to math group than with psychology
students
Norms Construction
 Define population
 Define objective of test
 Define sample
 Content of the test
 Test administration
 Test format
 User qualification & professional competence
 Ethical & social consideration
 Interpretation of the scores
Types of test
according to
norms
Norms Criterion
Reference Reference
Test Test
Norm Reference Test
 This
type of test identifies whether
the test taker performed better or
worse that other test takers
Criterion Reference Test (CRT)
 CRT interprets a test score compares

an individual’s performance to some
criterion other than performance of
other individuals

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NORMS

 Norms indicate the individual’s relative standing

 Norms provide compared measures that

 Developmental systems utilize more highly

 Although scores may be reported in terms of

 The scale has a mean set at 50 and a SD at 10

 CRT interprets a test score compares

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