The EQ score range, scale by scale

Mean-100 scales

Built so the norm sample averages 100, usually with a standard deviation of 15. Most scores land between 70 and 130, and about two thirds land between 85 and 115, if the norming was done well. The shape is borrowed from IQ testing, and the borrowing is the problem: a 115 in EQ does not mean what a 115 in IQ means, but it reads as if it does. We cover each region of this scale in its own page below.

Percentage of maximum

The score is expressed against the highest figure the test can produce, so the range runs 0 to 100 and a 72 means 72 percent of the maximum. Nothing is hidden in a norm sample, which is why we chose it, and the cost is honest too: it says how you answered relative to the instrument, not relative to other people. Comparison needs a published distribution, so we publish one.

Percentiles and bands

A percentile places you in a queue, and everything depends on who is in the queue; the percentile page takes that apart. A band compresses the number into a label like "balanced" or "developing", which is easier to hold in mind and hides the exact figure. Bands are honest when the margin of error is wide, because they refuse a precision the test does not have.

The mean-100 regions, page by page

• Below 70: the region where measurement problems are the first suspect
• 70 to 84: where the norm sample moves the number most
• 85 to 99: the lower half of the middle
• 100 to 114: the upper half, and the temptation to read a lead
• 115 to 129: where self-report starts to flatter
• 130 and above: the least trustworthy region on the scale

How we handle it

We publish every score as a percentage of its own maximum with its margin printed beside it, and the method is public. The test is free to take; the free result shows your classification and the shape of your profile, and the full scored report, every figure with its margin, is available as a one-off purchase or inside membership.

The rest of this family

Every page here does the same job for a different number: the full set is indexed on the hub.