What is NORMALIZATION in SSC CGL exam?

Normalization in exam means making the marks of all candidates at equal level. There are differences in difficulty level of different question papers. In simple term this was – What is Normalization in SSC CGL exam! Now understand in deep.

 

So after the exam, the team of subject experts will evaluate the difficulty level of question papers of every shift.

 

And then will increase the marks of students who appeared in more difficult shift, decrease the marks of candidates who appeared in less difficult shift following a formula ( I have discussed in the coming question).This is the overall concept of normalization.

You must have heard from UPSC or State PCS aspirants that SCALING was done. Scaling is also to some extent similar to normalization.

 

You can see the normalization process in PDF form:-

[embeddoc url=”http://www.ssctrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Normalisation-Formula.pdf” download=”all”]

 

How is normalization of marks done? Explain with example ( case study ) and step-by-step way.

If you read this example of normalization you will understand everything about normalization.

Suppose there are two students Salman and Shahrukh. SSC CGL Tier 1 exam was conducted in 2 shifts. Salman appeared in 1st shift and Shahrukh appeared in 2nd shift along with other students.

Average marks obtained by students in 1st shift was 160 out of 200. And average marks obtained by students in 2nd shift was 150 out of 200.

So seeing the average marks of both shifts it can be said that question paper of shift 1 was easier than question paper of shift 2.

Now you can say 16 marks of students who appeared in shift 1 should be equal to 15 marks of students who appeared in shift 2 of SSC CGL exam.

So now there are 3 methods available in front of SSC to make the difficulty level of both shift normalized.

1. Decrease the marks of students who appeared in shift 1 by 10 to make average marks 150.
2. Increase the marks of students who appeared in shift 2 by 10 to make average marks 160.
3. Decrease the marks of students of shift 1 by 5 and increase the marks of students of shift 2 by 5 and make average marks equal to 155.

It is upto SSC which method it adopts for normalization. SSC has not notified which way it will do normalization. I will update if there is some notice regarding it.

But there is one method of normalization which most of the exams follow. Even CBSE for assessing JEE ( Mains ) follows this.

 

I feel ( I may be wrong ) that SSC will generally increase the marks of students who appeared in difficult shift. Because in that case all candidates will become happy.

 

What is the exact formula of normalization?

The most popular formula used in normalization is given below. This is the screenshot. The easier one I have explained above.

I am going to make it easier for you.

1. Suppose a candidate got 140 marks in 1st shift of 5th August. Exam name is SSC CGL 2017.
2. Let average marks of top 0.1% candidates in all sessions = 185.
3. Let average marks of top 0.1% candidates in 1st shift of 5th August =180.
4. Sum of Mean and SD ( which is cut-off ) for all sessions = 130.
5. Sum of mean and SD ( which is cut-off ) for 1st shift of 5th August = 127.

So normalized marks =  

So you can see that after normalization his marks has increased from 140 to 140.49.

 

How is normalization going to affect students’ marks?

First of all after normalization, I think there will be more healthy competition, transparency, equalization and standardization.

It will have positive impact on students.

 

Will there be increase or decrease of marks?

There may by anything. Marks of some students may increase or decrease. It will be decided by SSC subject experts team that which factors and formula it will adopt for normalization.

I have explained above with example in full detail.

 

Who will decide the difficulty level of paper?

Subject experts and the specialised team will decide and evaluate the difficulty level of each shift. One of the major factor of calculating the difficulty level will be the average marks of each shift.

 

Is it easy to decide the difficulty level of each questions?

No. But I think today the technology is so advanced that we can find out which question took how much time to solve. Time can be one parameter for assessing the difficulty level of each question.

 

Why SSC has not adopted normalization method in evaluation before 2018?

SSC has not given any logical answer why SSC has not adopted normalization before. I think SSC did not want to take extra work pressure of normalization. Beside this reason if  you think there was any reason of not adopting normalization then please leave your suggestion in comment box. In my opinion whenever there is two or more shifts for the same exam, then the difficulty level of each question paper can not be same. So SSC should have adopted normalization method many years ago. Its okay. Let us forgive SSC. ( Aab to aaplog khush ho jao.)

 

Why there is need to do normalization?

Ans- Since the exam is conducted in many shifts, with different question papers for the same exam, normalization is must. It will ensure a level playing field to all students.

 

There was difference in average scores of SSC CGL Tier 1 2017 exam of different shifts.

No two question paper can have same difficulty level. And SSC conducts its exams in about more than 40 shifts because the number of computer labs are very few compared to number of aspirants who sit for this exam.

So how can question paper of each shift can be same! So it is fully justified for SSC to go for normalization in favour of aspirants.

 

Which other exams use normalization method in their exam?

1. CAT
2. GATE
3. IBPS
4. AFCAT ( airforce )
5. KVS – You can see its normalization news
6. Railway
7. And many more exams have already adopted normalization method.

 

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Is news about normalization in SSC CGL official?

Yes.Normalization Updates in official notification of SSC CGL 2018.Here is the screenshot.

You can download PDF of the official notification of SSC CGL from official website. Updates about normalization is in para 9.2 and at page number 16 of the notification.

 

Were there any court case against SSC for normalization?

Yes. Many aspirants were in favour of normalization. You can see the screenshot of case filed against SSC in CAT and Hight Court. It was filed by one student whose name was Raju Kumar along with others.

And the applicant advocate name was Mr Ajesh Luthra.

Due to pressure from students ( you can recall #sscscam – mass protest all over country) and the government afterwards, SSC has notified that it will now follow normalization method.

 

What is percentile score? Is it different from normalized score?

Yes, Percentile score is different from normalized score (marks). Percentile score show how many percent of students have got marks more than you and how many students have got marks less than you.

For example, in CAT exam you get 90 percentile. Then it does not mean you got 90 percent. It means 10 % students have got marks more than you and 90% students have got marks less than you.

What are the merits and demerits of normalization in SSC CGL?

Merits:-

1. More justice to all students.

Demerits:-

1. I doubt may be SSC will not announce exact marks obtained. It may announce the normalized marks only. ( So less transpareny ). Lets see what happens. Its my personal opinion.

 

Last but not the least- I would say that normalization can not help you in getting top rank. So from now onwards you will hear many rumours and news updates about normalization. Do not give much importance to that. Your aim should be to study only.

 

I am ending this article with a positive note. What happens to you is not in your hand but how you react to it is completely in your hand.

So always keep yourself focused to your goal. Don’t just aim to clear SSC CGL exam. Your aim should be to get in top 100.

 

To achieve that you should not only do smart study. You should also study more than 8 hours a day. You have very less time left. If you want , I can prepare a proper daily routine for you. Just write in comment section.

 

This is all about normalization. Now its upto SSC which factors and parameters it follows for its calculation.

If you still have any doubt about normalization you can ask in comment section.

 

You must know Best Book of Vocab for SSC CGL.

 

Give your comment :-

1. Are you happy with the news of normalization in SSC CGL? – YES or NO?