Definition

Noun: * An oblique or slanting asymmetry; lack of symmetry in a probability distribution. In statistics, skewness is a measure of the asymmetry of the probability distribution of a real-valued random variable about its mean. It describes whether the data points are concentrated more on one side of the mean than the other.

Usage

• Skewness is a statistical concept used to quantify the degree of asymmetry in a dataset's distribution.
• A distribution with zero skewness is symmetric.
• Positive skewness (right-skewed) indicates a longer tail on the right side, meaning the mass of the distribution is concentrated on the left.
• Negative skewness (left-skewed) indicates a longer tail on the left side, meaning the mass of the distribution is concentrated on the right.

Examples

• Noun:
  • The skewness of the income data was positive, indicating a few very high incomes.
  • A normal distribution has a skewness of zero.
  • The analyst calculated the skewness to understand the bias in the sample.

Advanced Usage

• "Measure of skewness": A specific formula or statistic (like Pearson's moment coefficient of skewness) used to calculate the degree of asymmetry.
  • The measure of skewness confirmed the visual impression from the histogram.
• "Coefficient of skewness": The numerical value resulting from a skewness calculation.
  • A coefficient of skewness greater than +1 indicates a highly right-skewed distribution.

Variants and Related Words

• Skewed (adj): Not symmetrical; distorted or biased.
  • The results were skewed by several extreme outliers.
• Skew (verb): To cause something to be not straight or symmetrical; to distort or bias.
  • A small sample size can skew the findings of the study.

Synonyms

• Asymmetry
• Lopsidedness
• Imbalance (in a statistical context)

Antonyms

• Symmetry

Noun

1. an oblique or slanting asymmetry