MSNCT Subject Distribution

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This is the template distribution used by NAQT for its Middle School National Championship Tournament (MSNCT).

Category Name Weights Per Set
(24 Packets)
Tossup / Bonus
Per Packet
     Literature 32 93 / 91 3.9 / 3.8
         Academic Literature 20 62 / 61 2.6 / 2.5
             Myth/Religion 20 16 / 16 0.7 / 0.7
                 Mythology 4 13 / 13 0.5 / 0.5
                     Classical Myth 60 8 / 8 0.3 / 0.3
                     Scandinavian Myth 10 1 / 2 0.0 / 0.1
                     Non European Myth 10 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
                     Nonclassical Myth 10 2 / 1 0.1 / 0.0
                     Any Myth 10 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
                 Religious Literature 1 3 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
                     Judeo Christian Literature 7 2 / 2 0.1 / 0.1
                     Non Judeo Christian Literature 4 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
             English Literature 51 40 / 39 1.7 / 1.6
                 American Literature 28 22 / 22 0.9 / 0.9
                 British Literature 23 18 / 17 0.8 / 0.7
             European Literature 8 6 / 6 0.2 / 0.2
         Young Reader Literature 8 25 / 24 1.0 / 1.0
         Any Literature 2 6 / 6 0.2 / 0.2
     Science and Math 50 145 / 142 6.0 / 5.9
         Math 8 46 / 46 1.9 / 1.9
             Computation 10 23 / 23 1.0 / 1.0
             Theory 10 23 / 23 1.0 / 1.0
         Science 17 99 / 96 4.1 / 4.0
             Physics 5 9 / 9 0.4 / 0.4
             Astronomy 10 18 / 17 0.8 / 0.7
             Biology 15 27 / 25 1.1 / 1.0
             Chemistry 5 8 / 8 0.3 / 0.3
             Computer Science 2 3 / 4 0.1 / 0.2
             Earth Science 10 17 / 16 0.7 / 0.7
             Other Science 3 5 / 5 0.2 / 0.2
             Any Science 7 12 / 12 0.5 / 0.5
     Fine Arts 15 43 / 43 1.8 / 1.8
         Visual 38 19 / 19 0.8 / 0.8
             Painting 12 10 / 11 0.4 / 0.5
             Architecture 4 4 / 3 0.2 / 0.1
             Sculpture 4 4 / 3 0.2 / 0.1
             Other 2 1 / 2 0.0 / 0.1
         Music 38 19 / 19 0.8 / 0.8
             Composers Works 12 11 / 11 0.5 / 0.5
             Jazz 2 2 / 2 0.1 / 0.1
             Instruments Theory ClassicalPerformers 6 6 / 5 0.2 / 0.2
             Any Music 1 0 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
         Performance 5 2 / 2 0.1 / 0.1
             Opera 100 2 / 2 0.1 / 0.1
             Dance 5 0 / 0 0.0 / 0.0
             Theater 5 0 / 0 0.0 / 0.0
             Any Performance 10 0 / 0 0.0 / 0.0
         Any Fine Arts 6 3 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
     History 40 116 / 113 4.8 / 4.7
         American History 40 43 / 42 1.8 / 1.8
             American Military History 7 8 / 7 0.3 / 0.3
             American Govt History 17 18 / 18 0.8 / 0.8
             American Social History 12 13 / 13 0.5 / 0.5
             American History 4 4 / 4 0.2 / 0.2
         European History 18 19 / 19 0.8 / 0.8
             British History 8 9 / 8 0.4 / 0.3
             French History 3 3 / 4 0.1 / 0.2
             Russian History 3 3 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
             German History 3 3 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
             Italian History 1 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
         World History 16 17 / 16 0.7 / 0.7
             Asian History 8 12 / 10 0.5 / 0.4
                 Chinese History 1 2 / 1 0.1 / 0.0
                 Japanese History 1 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
                 Indian History 1 1 / 2 0.0 / 0.1
                 Middle Eastern History 1 2 / 1 0.1 / 0.0
                 Asian History 4 6 / 5 0.2 / 0.2
             African History 2 2 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
             Latin American History 2 3 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
         Ancient History 8 8 / 8 0.3 / 0.3
             Ancient Greece History 2 2 / 2 0.1 / 0.1
             Ancient Rome History 3 3 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
             Non Classical 3 3 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
         Cross History 27 29 / 28 1.2 / 1.2
             Religious History 4 5 / 4 0.2 / 0.2
             Exploration History 4 4 / 4 0.2 / 0.2
             Europe History 6 6 / 7 0.2 / 0.3
             Non America Non Europe History 4 4 / 4 0.2 / 0.2
             History 9 10 / 9 0.4 / 0.4
     Geography 20 58 / 57 2.4 / 2.4
         North American Geography 30 17 / 18 0.7 / 0.8
         World Geography 70 41 / 39 1.7 / 1.6
             European Geography 25 10 / 10 0.4 / 0.4
             Asian Geography 30 12 / 12 0.5 / 0.5
             African Geography 15 6 / 6 0.2 / 0.2
             South American Geography 10 5 / 3 0.2 / 0.1
             Any World Geography 20 8 / 8 0.3 / 0.3
     Pop Culture Sports 15 43 / 43 1.8 / 1.8
         Sports 23 10 / 10 0.4 / 0.4
             Major Sport 12 5 / 5 0.2 / 0.2
                 Baseball 2 2 / 2 0.1 / 0.1
                     Modern 10 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
                     Any Time 10 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
                 Football 2 2 / 2 0.1 / 0.1
                     Modern 10 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
                     Any Time 10 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
                 Basketball 2 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
                     Modern 10 1 / 0 0.0 / 0.0
                     Any Time 10 0 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
             Minor Sport 6 2 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
                 Modern 2 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
                 Any Time 3 1 / 2 0.0 / 0.1
             Any Sports 7 3 / 2 0.1 / 0.1
                 Modern 1 2 / 1 0.1 / 0.0
                 Any Time 1 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
         Pop Culture 77 33 / 33 1.4 / 1.4
             TV 18 7 / 6 0.3 / 0.2
                 Pop Culture TV Modern 1 4 / 3 0.2 / 0.1
                 Pop Culture TV Any Time 1 3 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
             Music 18 6 / 6 0.2 / 0.2
                 Pop Culture Music Modern 1 3 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
                 Pop Culture Music Any Time 1 3 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
             Film 18 6 / 7 0.2 / 0.3
                 Pop Culture Film Modern 1 3 / 4 0.1 / 0.2
                 Pop Culture Film Any Time 1 3 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
             Video Games 16 5 / 5 0.2 / 0.2
             Musicals 4 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
             Comics 4 2 / 1 0.1 / 0.0
             Other 6 2 / 2 0.1 / 0.1
                 Pop Culture Other Modern 4 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
                 Pop Culture Other Any Time 4 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
             Any 12 4 / 5 0.2 / 0.2
     Social Science Theology Philosophy 5 15 / 14 0.6 / 0.6
         Social Science 15 6 / 7 0.2 / 0.3
             Anthropology Sociology 16 1 / 2 0.0 / 0.1
             Archaeology 8 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
             Economics 16 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
             Government 16 2 / 1 0.1 / 0.0
             Jurisprudence 4 0 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
             Political Phil 4 0 / 0 0.0 / 0.0
             Psychology 16 1 / 1 0.0 / 0.0
             Any Social Science 6 0 / 0 0.0 / 0.0
         Theo Phil 18 9 / 7 0.4 / 0.3
             Theology 120 6 / 5 0.2 / 0.2
             Philosophy 60 3 / 2 0.1 / 0.1
     Current Events 9 26 / 25 1.1 / 1.0
         Business 5 2 / 1 0.1 / 0.0
         Science 10 2 / 3 0.1 / 0.1
         US Current Events 50 11 / 11 0.5 / 0.5
             Political 30 4 / 5 0.2 / 0.2
             Social 30 4 / 4 0.2 / 0.2
             Any 20 3 / 2 0.1 / 0.1
         World Current Events 50 11 / 10 0.5 / 0.4
             Political 30 4 / 4 0.2 / 0.2
             Social 30 4 / 4 0.2 / 0.2
             Any 20 3 / 2 0.1 / 0.1
     Miscellaneous 13 / 17 37 / 48 1.5 / 2.0
         Mixed 18 / 35 29 / 42 1.2 / 1.8
             Pure Academic 10 / 21 17 / 25 0.7 / 1.0
             Impure Academic 8 / 14 12 / 17 0.5 / 0.7
         Mixed or General Knowledge or Language 5 8 / 6 0.3 / 0.2

The Weights column gives the numeric weights associated with each category; these are relative to the weights of sibling categories. If, for example, a category had two children, one with weight 2 and the other with weight 3, then the first would receive 40% of questions (2 / (2+3)) and the second would receive 60%. If two weights are specified, then tossups and bonuses are treated differently.

The Per Set column shows the total number of tossups and bonuses in that category for the entire set.

The Per Packet column shows the per-set numbers divided by the number of packets in the set. The total number of tossups in this category in a single packet will be this number either rounded up or down; the bonuses follow a similar constraint. In addition, a single set will never have a packet in which both of those numbers are rounded up and another in which both of those numbers are rounded down.

Question sets may differ slightly in that in each category (not only the innermost categories), at most one question may be shifted from tossup to bonus (or vice versa). For example, if a category is listed as 0/1 here, it does not mean that every question set will have a bonus and no set will have a tossup; there is an equal chance that the one question would be a tossup or a bonus.