People have tended to use the term ‘normal’ when they are referring to people who are mentally healthy. Thus a lack of mental health was referred to as ‘abnormal’. The terms ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ are no longer used, so newer A-level specifications are removing the term ‘abnormality’.
If we are considering statistical data (as in the case of the ‘statistical infrequency’ definition here) then it is appropriate to use the terms ‘norms’ or ‘normal’ because these are mathematical concepts. For example, we can work out the norm (or mean) for the IQ or depression scores of any group of people. But the use of the term ‘normal’ is not appropriate when discussing anything that is non-numerical.
Your organisation does not have access to this article.
Sign up today to give your students the edge they need to achieve their best grades with subject expertise
Subscribe
