Measures of Relative

Position

Percen&le Quar&le Standard Score or z-score

Percen&le
The percen&le rank of a score is the percentage of scores in its frequency distribu&on that are
equal to or lower than it.
Percen&les are also used to compare an individual’s test score with the same norm. For
example, a Diagnos&c Test of Center of Educa&onal Measurement (CEM), a student’s score is
compared with those of the other students locally ( 1 school) and na&onally ( all schools in the
Philippines) using percen&le ranks.
Percen&le rank of a score reflects how well he did in comparison to other students.

Percen&le is not the same as percentage.

Example: Result of Diagnos&c Test of Ms. V ----- Grade 9 , UM Basic Educa&on
English (score is 90)----- 86th Percen&le ------- School Norm (UM)
94th Percen&le ------ Standard Norm
What is the interpreta&on of the result?
86th Percen&le --- this means that 86% of the scores are at or below Ms. V’s score.

If there are 150 students in Grade 9 of UM then there are 150 scores.

86% of 150 = 129 students/scores

To be specific, 86th Percen&le means that 129 students are at or below Ms. V’s score.
94th Percen&le --- this means that 94% of the scores are at or below Ms. V’s score.

Since this is based on standard norm, which means all Grade 9 students of the
country.

Assuming that there are 8,000,000 grade 9 students all over the Philippines,
then 94% x 8,000,000 = 7,520,000 students

To be specific, 94th Percen&le means that 7,520,000 students are at or below Ms.
V’s score.
Exercises Interpreta&on

1. If I tell you that you scored at the 40th percen&le This means that:
on your final exam. a)  40% of the class are at or below you
b)  40% of the scores are at or below you.

2. In a class of 40 students, your score in the The means that:

achievement test is at 80th percen&le. a)  80% of the class/scores are at or below you.
b)  Since there are 40 students in the class, therefore
32 scores/classmates are at or below you.

How many students are at or above you?

Answer: 20% or 8 students
Determine whether the following statements are true or false. Answer

The higher the percen&le rank of a score, the lesser the percent of
scores above that score.

A mark of 85% always has a percen&le rank of 85.

It is possible to have a mark of 95% and a percen&le rank of 40.

A percen&le rank of 90, indicates that 90% of the scores are above
that score.

The higher the percen&le rank, the befer that score is compared to
other scores.
Exercises on Percen&le

1.  In the data set : 20, 38, 45, 56, 67, 68, 74, 83, 85, 87, 92, 94
1.a What is the percen&le rank of score 85?

1.b What is the percen&le rank of score 56?

2. In your sec&on, there are 25 students. Your score in the test is 4th from the top. What is
the percen&le rank of your score?

(note: formula is found in your SIM (page 14) or in the ebook)

Standard score or z-score
What does the z-score tell you?
!  A z-score describes the position of a raw score in terms of its distance from the mean,
when measured in standard deviation units.

How do you interpret a z-score?

The value of the z-score tells you how many standard devia&ons you are away from the mean. If a
z-score is equal to 0, it is on the mean.

A posi&ve z-score indicates the raw score is higher than the mean average.
For example, if a z-score is equal to +1, it is 1 standard devia&on above the mean.

A nega&ve z-score reveals the raw score is below the mean average.
For example, if a z-score is equal to -2, it is 2 standard devia&ons below the mean.
Example:

1. You take an exam in Math, the z-score is +1. In the Sta&s&cs exam , the z-score is +2.
Ques&ons:
1.a. Are your scores in the 2 subjects higher than the mean? Answer : yes , why? They are
both posi&ve.

1.b. In which subject are you performing befer? Answer: Sta&s&cs , why? The z-score +2
farther than z-score +1 from the mean.

Normal curve
the mean is at z=0
How to convert raw score to z-score? Below is the formula.

Example 1
Here are the z-scores of a student’s exam in Math and History. In what subject did he perform befer?
Answer: Math , Why? z-score 2 in Math is larger than z-score 1 in History.
Example 2. In what subject did a student perform befer?

Answer: Math Why? z-score -1.33 is larger than z-score -2.67.

Exercises:

1.  Scores on a science test have average of 70 with standard devia&on of 5. What is the z-score
for a student who earned a 60 on the test?

2. A group of friends compares what they received while trick or trea&ng. They find that the
average number of pieces of candy received is 45, with standard devia&on of 4. What is the z-score
corresponding to 50 pieces of candy?

3. The weight of chocolate bars from a par&cular chocolate factory has a mean of 7 ounces with
standard devia&on of 2 ounce. What is the z-score corresponding to a weight of 9.17 ounces?
 Thank you