Normalization or Scaling of Scores in the NABARD Grade B Exam

Introduction
The NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) Grade B Exam is a highly competitive exam conducted to recruit candidates for various managerial positions in the banking sector. To ensure fairness and accuracy in the evaluation process, NABARD follows the practice of normalization or scaling of scores.

What is Normalization?
Normalization is a statistical process that adjusts scores of candidates in different sessions or shifts to a common scale. It is done to account for any variations in the difficulty level of different sessions of the exam. This process ensures that all candidates are evaluated on the same level playing field, regardless of the difficulty of the session they appeared for.

Why is Normalization Necessary?
Normalization is necessary because the NABARD Grade B Exam is conducted in multiple shifts or sessions. It is possible that the difficulty level of questions or other factors may vary across different sessions. If normalization is not performed, it may lead to unfairness in the evaluation process as candidates who appeared for an easier session might have an advantage over those who appeared for a tougher session.

How is Normalization Done?
The normalization process involves the following steps:

1. Calculation of Raw Scores: Initially, raw scores are calculated for each candidate based on their performance in the respective sessions.

2. Calculation of Session-wise Normalized Scores: The average and standard deviation of the raw scores are calculated for each session separately. The session-wise normalized score for a candidate is determined by using the following formula:
Normalized Score = (Raw Score - Average Raw Score of the Session) / Standard Deviation of Raw Scores of the Session

3. Calculation of Overall Normalized Scores: Once the session-wise normalized scores are calculated, an overall normalized score is calculated for each candidate by considering the average and standard deviation of all sessions combined.

4. Final Merit List: The final merit list is prepared based on the overall normalized scores of the candidates. The candidates with higher normalized scores are ranked higher in the merit list.

Conclusion
In the NABARD Grade B Exam, normalization or scaling of scores is an essential process to ensure fairness in the evaluation of candidates across different sessions. It accounts for any variations in the difficulty level of different sessions and provides an equal opportunity for all candidates. The normalization process involves calculating session-wise normalized scores and an overall normalized score, which is used to prepare the final merit list.