http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_score.
In statistics, a standard score is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation. This conversion process is called standardizing or normalizing.
Standard scores are also called z-values, z-scores, normal scores, and standardized variables.
The standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation is above or below the mean. It allows comparison of observations from different normal distributions, which is done frequently in research.
The standard score is not the same as the z-factor used in the analysis of high-throughput screening data, but is sometimes confused with it.
