In statistics and data analysis, a raw score is an original datum that has not been transformed – for example, the original result obtained by a student on a test (i.e., the number of correctly answered items) as opposed to that score after transformation to a standard score or percentile rank or the like. Statistics is a type of data analysis whose practice includes the planning, summarizing, and interpreting of observations of a system possibly followed by predicting or forecasting of future events based on a mathematical model of the system being observed. ... The words test and testing have many meanings: Testing or experimentation forms part of the scientific method, to verify or falsify an already-formed expectation with an observation In manufacturing, quality control testing consists of a procedure designed to test the functionality of a product under potentially harmful conditions. ... In statistics, a standard score (z) is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual (raw) score and then dividing the difference by the populaton standard deviation: The quantity z represents the distance between the raw score and the population mean in units of the standard...

Often the conversion must be made to a standard score before the data can be used. For example, an open ended survey question will yield raw data that cannot be used for statistical purposes as it is; however a multiple choice question will yield raw data that is either easy to convert to a standard score, or even can be used as it is.