Numerical Aptitude Test
Problem - to measure the aptitude of the testee
by the Numerical Ability test of DAT.
Or
to measure the numerical aptitude of the testee
using a suitable aptitude test.
Introduction -
The ability to understand the relationship
between number is called numerical ability. The
need for this qualification is high in statistics,
accountancy, etc.
Numerical Ability Test (NA) - Through this
aptitude test, the numerical ability of the
candidate is tested. It consists of 40 items and
each item has 5 alternative answers. The
candidate has to choose one of these answers.
One mark is awarded for each correct answer.
Hence the maximum marks can be 40. There is
also negative marking. One mark is awarded for
each wrong answer. The marks awarded for
correct answers and the marks awarded for
incorrect answers are added separately. Then the
raw score is calculated by the following formula-
Raw Score = Right score - ¼*wrong score,
Example- Suppose a examinee answered 25 items
correctly, answered 8 items wrongly and left 7
items.
Therefore, Raw score = 25 – ¼*8
= 25 - 2
= 23.
Now, by looking at the percentile table in the
manual, it will be ascertained that the candidate's
PR is average, above average or below average in
numerical aptitude. The percentile table is listed
in Table 30 on page 649.
Purpose - The purpose of this test is to measure
the numerical aptitude of the examinee.
Preliminaries—
(i) Name of the testee -
(ii) sex -
(iii) age -
(iv) mental state - normal
(v) qualification -
(vi) time of test - Day at 11 o'clock.
Test materials
(i) Booklet of Quantitative Aptitude Test (Booklet
Form A),
(ii) answer sheet,
(iii) hand scoring key,
(iv) stop watch,
(v) paper, pencil, etc.
Procedure of test –
(a) Design of test
No. of right answers
No. of wrong answers
Raw score
Percentile rank (RP)
(b) Planning - It is planned that the examinee
will be given the booklet and answer sheet of
the Quantitative Aptitude Test (NA) of DAT
and the number of correct answers and
wrong answers given by him within the
limited time (30 minutes) will be determined.
Then the original marks will be taken out and
on the basis of that the PR will be taken out.
(c) Arrangement for the test materials - A
booklet (Booklet Form A) of the Quantitative
Aptitude Test (NA) and its answer sheet—etc.
were placed on the table. The stop-clock has
been checked. The examinee was seated
comfortably and necessary instructions were
given.
(d) Instruction – The examinee was instructed
that "I will find you a booklet in which there
will be many questions related to
mathematics. Each question will have 5
alternative answers out of which only one
answer will be correct. You have to choose
the correct answer according to your
understanding and mark the answer sheet.
Please do not make any mark on the booklet.
You will write your name, category, sex,
address, etc. in the spaces provided on the
answer sheet. When asked to turn the page,
we will turn the page of the booklet and read
the instructions printed in it in our mind and
try to do our work accordingly."
(e) Actual test administration – Along with
giving instructions, rapport was established
with the examinee and the examples given on
the booklet were understood. Then the actual
test was started from unit number one and
the stop-clock was started. The examinee
read each and every question in the booklet
and marked the answer sheet by choosing any
one of the 5 alternative answers. This work
went on for 30 minutes. After that he was
asked to stop. Different numbers of correct
answers and wrong answers were determined
with the help of scoring key and PR was
calculated on the basis of Table 28 by
extracting the raw score.
Data collection –
No. of right answers 25
No. of wrong answers 8
No. of left items 7
Treatment of data –
Raw score = right score – ¼* wrong score
= 25- ¼*8
=25-2
= 23
PR= 85
Interpretation –
The present test result shows that the numerical
aptitude of the candidate is more than average.
The 50th percentile is considered the average.
The numerical aptitude score of the present
candidate is 23 and PR is 85. He is clearly above
average in numerical aptitude. That's why it can
be predicted that he can prove to be more
successful in number related tasks like statistics,
accountancy etc.
