Needs refer to the communicative skills required by a person to do a particular job. Specification of needs requires a systematic description of communicative skills and these skills should be seen as terminal objectives for a learner, so that the communicative demands of a job or setting could be fulfilled is due course.
Need-Press Interaction Analysis is one of the survey techniques used for the evaluation of instructional programmes. Through this technique one can elicit information about various components of the programmes from students. Questionnaires with Likert scale can be used for this purpose. Here, 'need' refers to 'importance' and 'press' refers to 'emphasis'.
Neglectee refers to a learner who is neglected in a class or who is chosen by none or by a very few.
Nominal Scale is a scale of measurement. In this scale, the elements are classified into some specific categories, such as sex, age, educational qualifications, languages known, etc., in order to differentiate them from one another. It is used for the purpose of quantifying/counting the number of occurrences or instances of objectives under each category. For instance, the counting of the number of native speakers of Kannada in the Intensive Course in Tamil as L2.
Non-invasive Method is one which allows a person or group under measurement to function in his/its usual state and to minimize interference by the investigator. Traditional language tests in this respect are highly invasive, as they are artificial and unrelated to the circumstances of real life by interfering with the normal processes of communication.
Non-language Test [See, Non-verbal Test].
Non-scholastic Age Level (NSL) is a new concept and refers to the behavioural level of the learner corresponding to the average stanine made by him on a series of non-scholastic tools and techniques or on a battery of non-scholastic tests.
Non-scholastic Aspects (of Learner's Growth) refer to the human behaviours classified under the affective domain, which are expected to be developed in a learner. The growth of these aspects can be assessed indirectly by observing the changes in learner's behaviour and also by analyzing data reported in the form of autobiography, self-report, checklist, rating scales, standardized tests, etc.
Non-scholastic Quotient (NSQ) indicates whether a learner's non-scholastic
behaviour is commensurate with his chronological age, or whether it is above
or below the level to be expected for his age (Natarajan and Kulshreshta, 1983
p.101). The formula for computation of this quotient is,
Where, NSQ = Non-scholastic quotient.
NSL = Non-scholastic age level
CA = Chronological age.
Non-verbal Test is one which consists of non-verbal and non-language items for which no language (either spoken or written) is required. For example, 'Progressive Matrices Test' consisting incomplete designs. The details of this test are dealt with separately.
Norm refers to the average performance on a standardized test by the pupils of a particular age group. Different norms, such as age, grade, percentile, standard score, etc., are being followed for different purposes.
Normal Distribution is an ideal frequency distribution, represented by a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve. The scores concentrate near the middle and tapering towards both the ends. The mean, median and more are equal in such distribution. Scores of an ideal test are expected to form a normal distribution.
Normal Distribution Area Proportion is "the proportion of a normal distribution accounted for at any given point along the z-score continuum. It is the proportion of the total area under the normal curve, which is delimited by a vertical line from the given z-score point" (Henning, 1987, p.197).
Norm Reference is the process of interpreting a person's performance in a test in comparison with the performance of his peers.
Norm Referenced Test is a standardized test which is designed to measure an individual's performance in relation to the performance of others in the same group. In this testing, the score of a student would simply tell us how high his score compared to his classmates. Eg., 'Percentile'.
Normalized Standard Scores are the scores obtained by transforming raw scores in such a way that those scores are normally distributed (irrespective of the shape of the distribution of raw scores). They have a mean of 0 (zero) and an s.d. of 1.
Normalization Transformation is used to standardize or normalize a distribution
of scores. The most common of these is the z-score transformation. The formula
for computation of z-score is,
Z = (x - x#)/s.d.
where, x = the raw score of a given examinee.
x# = the mean or average score.
s.d. = standard deviation of the raw score
distribution.
By means of this transformation, ordinal data is changed to interval data, and
scores are anchored to a norm.
Numerical Evaluation is a process wherein (Clift, 1981, p.94) answers
are given absolute numerical marks on a numerical scale or given a percentage
mark. Such marks and percentages are intended to relate the students' performance
to the degree of mastery of what was set out to be learned; also to provide
fixed standard of assessment. Numerical evaluation may be contrasted with enumeration
or count scoring.