Norms

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Norms
The test performance data of a
particular group of test takers that
are designed for use as a
reference for evaluating or
interpreting individual test scores
provide standards to which the
results of the test takers on different
measurements can be compared.

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Generated during the process of test
construction and test standardization  
Norm is a statistical concept in
psychometrics representing the aggregate
responses of a standardized and
representative group
Refer to the performances by defined
groups on particular tests
Norms for a test are based on the
distribution of scores obtained by some
defined sample of individuals

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Norms are obtained by administering
the test to a sample of people and
obtaining the distribution of scores for
that group
Norms are used to relate a score to a
particular distribution for a subgroup
of a population
Norms are used for interpreting the
test scores
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Raw scores

Raw scores of psychological tests

have no meaning unless they are
interpreted with additional supporting
information or data
For example, a person’s score of 50
on an intelligence test does not tell us
whether he or she has an average,
below or above I.Q level unless we
know what the average score, or the
norm is.
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Types of Norms

Age-based Norms

Reference-based norms

Developmental Norms

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Age-based Norms

How much a student knows is

determined by the student’s standing
or rank within the age reference group
Certain tests have different normative
groups for particular age groups.
Most IQ tests are of this sort

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Reference-based norms

Is to determine how a test taker

compares with others.

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Developmental Norms
is to indicate how far along the normal
developmental path the individual has
progressed
Developmental norms are used to assess
whether infants, toddlers, children, and/or
adolescents are developing at
approximately the same rate as their peers
cognitive,
communication,
motor,
socio-emotional, and
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adaptive skills
Essential Statistical Concepts

Frequency Distributions
Measures of Central Tendency
Measures of Variability
The Normal Distribution
Skewness
Frequency Distribution
A very simple and useful way of
summarizing data is to tabulate a
frequency distribution
The Frequency Distribution is a
summary of the frequency of individual
values or ranges of values for a variable.
Tells us about individual value frequency
Frequency is how much the value is being repeated
A frequency distribution is prepared
by specifying a small number of
usually equal-sized class intervals
and then tallying how many scores
fall within each interval. The sums of
the frequencies for all intervals will
equal N, the total number of scores in
the sample.

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Histogram

A histogram provides a graphic

representation of the same
information contained in the
frequency distribution

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The horizontal axis portrays the
scores grouped into class intervals,
whereas the vertical axis depicts the
number of scores falling within each
class interval. In a histogram, the
height of a column indicates the
number of scores occurring within
that interval.

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Frequency Polygon

A frequency polygon is similar to a

histogram, except that the frequency
of the class intervals is represented
by single points rather than columns.
The single points are then joined by
straight lines
Determines the shape of the data
Positive skewed, negative skewed
Skewed tells us straight line ki kitni pehlao hai

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Types of Distribution
For quantitative variables, the pattern of
scores in the distribution can be determined
by visually examining the frequency polygon.
In large data sets if a pattern exists it
typically fits one of three patterns:
Symmetrical---normal curve, normally distributed,
maximum data is accumulated at mean and less at peripheral
Skewed
Multimodal– being accumulated at more than one place,
have more peaks.
Symmetrical Distribution
Positively Skewed Negatively
Skewed
Measures of Central Tendency

There are several common methods to

estimate measure of central tendency.
Intended to describe the most average
scores in the distribution.
Most common measures are the mean,
the median, and the mode.
Mean

Most commonly used method of

describing central tendency.
Arithmetic average of all scores.
Add up all of the values and divide by
the number of values.

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Median

The midpoint of the ordered list of

values.
List the values in rank order, then find
the point below which one-half of the
scores lie.

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Mode
The easiest measure to understand since
it is determined by inspection rather than
computation.
Reports the most frequent score in the
variable.
Useful when studying nominal variables.
Not often a useful indicator of central
tendency in a distribution.
Variability
Refers to the extent to which the scores
in a distribution differ from each other.
A distribution lacking variability is referred
to as homogenous.
Distribution with much variability is
referred to as heterogeneous.
Three frequently used measures of
variability are the range, variance, and
standard deviation.
How much difference is between the score, how far they are, how
much data is dispersed
Range
The simplest measure of variability.
Take the highest score and subtract the
lowest score.
A quick measure of variability but
excludes a information from the other
scores.
Variance

Represents how close the scores in the

distribution are to the mean.
Variance is the average of the
squared deviations from the mean.
Average of square data from the means

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Standard Deviation

The standard deviation is the square

root of the variance.
Indicates the average difference
between individual scores and the
group mean

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Raw Score Transformations

Percentiles and Percentile Ranks

Standard Scores
T scores and Other Standardized
Scores
Stanines, Stens, and C scale
Percentage

A percentage is simply a
representation of a proportion out of
100
Raw scores, expressed in terms of
the percentage of correct items

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Percentile
Score or point in a score distribution at or below
which a given percentage of scores fall
A percentile indicates the individual’s relative
position in the standardization sample
Percentiles can also be regarded as ranks in a
group of 100 (e.g. , if you score in the 72nd
percentile on an exam, it means you scored
higher than 72 percent of all the people who took
the same exam)
50th percentile corresponds to the median
25th and 75th percentile are known as the first
and third quartile points, because they cut off the
lowest and highest quarters of the distribution 32
Standard Score
A standard score is a raw score that has been
converted from one scale to another scale, where
the latter scale has some arbitrarily set mean and
standard deviation
Raw scores may be converted to standard scores
because standard scores are more easily
interpretable than raw scores
First for consideration is the type of standard score
scale that may be thought of as the zero plus or
minus one scale-Z score

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T Scores
Computation of z scores is called a zero
plus or minus one scale-Standard scores
The scale used in the computation of T
scores can be called a fifty plus or minus
ten scale
that is, a scale with a mean set at 50 and a
standard deviation set at 10.
This standard score system is composed of a
scale that ranges from 5 standard deviations
below the mean to 5 standard deviations above
the mean.
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Level of Significance

Significance levels refer to the risk of

error we are willing to take in drawing
conclusions from our data.

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Confidence Interval

A confidence interval provides a

range of values around the estimate
to indicate the how accurate or
precise the estimate is likely to be.
An interval between two values on a
score scale within which, with
specified probability, a score or
parameter of interest lies

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