What is skewness? (2mark)

Statistics

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Answer

Skewness is a measure of the asymmetry of the probability distribution of a real-valued random variable about its mean. A distribution is skewed if it is not symmetric on both sides of its central peak.

  • Positive skew (right-skewed): The tail on the right side of the distribution is longer or fatter than the left side. The mean is typically greater than the median.
  • Negative skew (left-skewed): The tail on the left side of the distribution is longer or fatter than the right side. The mean is typically less than the median.
  • Zero skew: The distribution is perfectly symmetrical, like a normal distribution, where the mean, median, and mode are all equal.
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