Raw score

The direct, untransformed score from an assessment — typically the sum of item responses.

A raw score is the direct, untransformed score from an assessment — typically the sum of responses to its items. On a 20-item scale with each item rated 0–4, raw scores range from 0 to 80.

Raw scores are useful for the test author but can be hard to interpret on their own: a raw score of 28 doesn't mean anything until you know the norms, cutoffs, or score range. That's why raw scores are usually converted to standardized scores (Z-scores, T-scores) or percentile ranks before being reported to respondents.

Norms — Reference distributions of scores from a defined population, used to interpret an individual's score in context.
Percentile rank — The percentage of scores in a reference group that fall at or below a given score.
Z-score — A standardized score expressing how many standard deviations a raw score is from the mean.
T-score — A standardized score with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10, commonly used in psychological testing.

Raw score

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