What is the primary characteristic of norm-referenced assessments?

The primary characteristic of norm-referenced assessments is that they compare a client's scores to a normative group. This means that the assessment is designed to determine how an individual's performance relates to the performance of a larger population or group, which is known as the normative sample. The goal is to understand an individual's standing in relation to others, often expressed in terms of percentiles, standard scores, or other statistical measures.

By using this comparative framework, norm-referenced assessments can provide information about how a client performs in a broader context, which can be crucial for identifying strengths and weaknesses in relation to peers. This sort of assessment is valuable in various settings, such as educational evaluations or clinical assessments, where understanding how a person measures up against a normative standard can inform treatment or intervention planning.

In contrast, other options emphasize individual performance, specific criteria, or qualitative data, which are more characteristic of different types of assessments, such as criterion-referenced assessments or qualitative assessments. These approaches have different purposes and methodologies focused more on individual progress or qualitative aspects rather than comparative analysis against a normative group.