Programming :: Using The Process Status (ps) Command In A Bash Script?

I am new to scripting and been working on this bash script for awhile now. I been researching this problem, but I can't seem to find a solution. I was wondering if someone could please help me out. Here is my script:

#!/bin/bash
NO="ps -ef | grep NO | grep -v grep"
NOWC=`ps -ef | grep NO | grep -v grep | wc -l`

[code].....

I cannot get this script to run the "ps -ef" command on the client. It get its value from the host machine that I am running this script from. I need this command to execute on the client. When I run the command (ps -ef | grep NO | grep -v grep) on the client, I get something back. Here is what I get when I try to debug the script.

XX# ./test_ps5.sh XXXXX
+ NO='ps -ef | grep NO | grep -v grep'
++ ps -ef

[code]....