A
ranking among a
population, in which a
member's
percentile ranking represents the
percentage of the population ranked
beneath the
member. The ranking can be from 0 to 99 (one can never rank above the entire population, which includes oneself).
While common usage is frequently to say "I scored in the footh percentile," it is more correct to say, "I scored above the
footh percentile." A percentile, like a quartile or a decile, is a point, not a range.
The standard abbreviation for percentile is %ile.
Uses:
- Standardized Tests
- In tests such as the SAT, GRE, or AFOQT, test-takers receive a raw score, which shows how well they performed on the test. Each participant also receives a percentile score, showing how well they did compared to the rest of the test takers in that group. In this fashion, people who took different tests can, in theory, be objectively compared.
- Alyssa P. Hacker and Ben Bitdiddle each take the SAT, in different years. Alyssa scores a 1400, which is 98th %ile. Ben, who takes the new, politically correct SATs, scores a 1460, quantitatively higher than Alyssa. However, he is only the 93rd %ile - Alyssa ranks qualitatively higher.
- 95/5 computation
- For bandwidth billing, usage slots are ranked by consumption of bandwidth.