Normbaserat

Normbaserat is a Swedish term meaning based on norms. It describes approaches, methods, or assessments that use an external reference point—often a normative sample or prevailing social standards—as the basis for interpretation or judgment. The word is formed from norma (norm) and baserad (based).

In education and psychology, normbaserad bedömning refers to evaluations where an individual’s performance is interpreted relative to a reference group, for example through percentile ranks or standardized scores. This stands in contrast to kriteriebaserad (criterion-based) or kriterie-referenced assessment, where outcomes are judged against predefined learning criteria or competencies rather than against how others perform.

Normbaserade metoder are also used in research and policy contexts to analyze or influence behavior in relation to socially prevailing norms. For instance, social norms marketing and related programs may aim to shift behavior by highlighting normative expectations within a community.

Advantages commonly attributed to normbaserade approaches include the ability to situate an individual within a distribution, identify relative strengths, and enable comparability across groups. Critics argue that such approaches can entrench biases if the normative sample is unrepresentative, obscure individual progress, and potentially unfairly disadvantage minority positions when norms do not reflect diversity or changing contexts.

Alternatives and complements include criterion-referenced methods, competency- or outcome-based assessment, and mixed approaches that combine normative reference with explicit criteria.

See also: normative theory, standardization, criterion-referenced testing, social norms.