Left Skewness Math
Compare the data distributions below which we also examined briefly in a previous lesson.
Left skewness math. A similar argument explains why data skewed to the left has negative skewness. Pearson s second coefficient of skewness is also used to measure the asymmetry of a data set. For this quantity we subtract the mode from the median multiply this number by three and then divide by the standard deviation. People sometimes say it is skewed to the left the long tail is on the left hand side the mean is also on the left of the peak.
A symmetrical distribution looks like figure 1. The distribution on the left is symmetrically distributed it is not skewed to either side. A left or negative skewed distribution has a shape like figure 2. The distribution on the right on the other hand is asymmetric it is skewed to the left.
In distributions in which there s negative skew it s important to understand where the mean and median lie. A right or positive skewed distribution has a shape like figure 3. Applications of skewed data. This distribution has negative skew because there s a long tail of values on the negative side of the peak.
Because the long tail is on the negative side of the peak. Let s plot this distribution again and mark the mean and median values.