CJ 2602 Lecture 5: stats notes 5 02/14

• School: Temple University
• Department: Criminal Justice
• Course: CJ 2602
• Professor: thompson

Document Summary

Bell curves that are centered on different sides, aka a distribution with longer tails, represent skewed data. Skewed data - a measure of the distribution of values around the mean. When we collect data, we hope for a normal bell curve - which means that our responses fall on each side of the mean equally. Normal curve - all measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) are the same, which is in the center at the peak. Positively skewed data - tail goes to the right, the mean is usually to the right of the median and therefore larger than the median. Negatively skewed data - tail goes to the left, mean is usually to the left of the median and therefore smaller than the median. If value is 2 or higher, then the distribution has a signi cant skew to it. Then, the median is the most appropriate measure of central tendency to report.