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Understanding Standard Scores in Statistics

Standard scores allow for the comparison of test scores from different tests with different means and standard deviations. There are several types of standard scores: - Z scores indicate how many standard deviations a raw score is above or below the mean. A z score of -1.45 means the score is 1.45 standard deviations below the mean. - T scores have a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10. They range from 0 to 100, with higher scores being more deviations above the mean. - Stanines range from 1 to 9, with each value representing a performance range that is half a standard deviation wide. They allow comparison of scores from achievement tests given in school.

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25 views3 pages

Understanding Standard Scores in Statistics

Standard scores allow for the comparison of test scores from different tests with different means and standard deviations. There are several types of standard scores: - Z scores indicate how many standard deviations a raw score is above or below the mean. A z score of -1.45 means the score is 1.45 standard deviations below the mean. - T scores have a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10. They range from 0 to 100, with higher scores being more deviations above the mean. - Stanines range from 1 to 9, with each value representing a performance range that is half a standard deviation wide. They allow comparison of scores from achievement tests given in school.

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Elle Roxas
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

STANDARD SCORES

NORMAL DISTRIBUTIONS
The normal distribution is the most important and most
widely used distribution in
statistics. It is sometimes called the “bell curve,”
although the tonal qualities of
such a bell would be less than pleasing. It is also called
the “Gaussian curve” of
Gaussian distribution after the mathematician Karl
Friedrich Gauss.

STANDARD SCORES:

A standard score is a raw score that has been converted Z SCORES -results from the conversion of a raw score
from one scale to another scale. into a number indicating how many standard deviation
units the raw score is below or above the mean of the
Raw scores may be converted to standard scores
distribution. Also called zero plus or minus one scale.
because standard scores are more easily interpretable
than raw scores. With a standard score, the position of
Score (x) Mean (𝑥 ) SD = z= 3-
a testtaker’s performance relative to other test takers is =3 2.76 7/2.76
=7
readily apparent z= -1.45
̅

z Scores are beneficial to educators because they allow


comparisons to be made between tests with different
distribution characteristics, i.e. mean and SD. For example, if
a different version of the test described above was given, and
the mean dropped from 35 to 30, and the SD increased from
5 to 10, then a score of 20 on this version of the test has a z
score of -1 ((20 - 30) / 10 =-1)) or 1 SD less than the mean.
Therefore, a score of 20 on this version of the test is relatively
better than it was on the earlier version.
Your statistics exam score was 0.67 standard deviations
better than the class average; your biology score was
0.7 standard deviations better than the class average;
your kayaking score was only 0.5 standard deviations
better than the class average. Therefore, even though
your actual score on the biology exam was the lowest of
the three exam scores, relative to the distribution of all
class exam scores, your biology exam score was the
highest relative grade.

STANDARD SCORES:

T Scores – it can be called a fifty plus or minus ten scale;


that is, a scale with a mean set at 50 and a standard
Try this deviation set at 10. For example, a raw score that fell
exactly at 5 standard deviations below the mean would
be equal to a T score of 0, a raw score that fell at the
mean would be equal to a T of 50, and a raw score 5
standard deviations above the mean would be equal to
a T of 100.

Suppose you are enrolled in three classes, statistics,


biology, and kayaking, and you just took the first exam
in each. You receive a grade of 82 on your statistics
exam, where the mean grade was 74 and the standard
deviation was 12. You receive a grade of 72 on your
biology exam, where the mean grade was 65 and the
standard deviation was 10. Finally, you receive a grade
of 91 on your kayaking exam, where the mean grade
was 88 and the standard deviation was 6. Although your
highest test score was 91 (kayaking), in which class did
you score the best, relative to the rest of the class?
STANDARD SCORES:

Stanine, a term that was a contraction of the words


standard and nine.

Stanine scoring may be familiar to many students from


achievement tests administered in elementary and
secondary school, where test scores are often
represented as stanines. Stanines are different from
other standard scores in that they take on whole values
from 1 to 9, which represent a range of performance
that is half of a standard deviation in width.

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