Chapter 3-Normal Distribution Lesson 1 Skewness of Random

Variable -In probability theory and stastistics,Skewness is measure of

the asymmetry of the probability distribution of a real-valued random
variable about it's mean.The Skewness value can be positive or
negative,or undefined. For a unimodal distribution, negative skew
commonly indicates that the tail is on the left side of the distribution,
and positive skew indicates that the tail is on the right. In case where
one tail is long but the other tail is fat,Skewness does not obey a
simple rule. For example, a zero value means that the tails on both
sides of the mean balance out overall this is the case for a symmetric
distribution, but can also be true for an asymmetric distribution
where one tail is long and thin, and the other is short but fat. Measure
of Center -When we focus on the mean of variable, we are presumably
trying to focus on what happens "on average" or perhaps "typically".
The mean is very appropriate for this purpose when the distribution
is symmetrical, and especially when it is "mound-shaped," such as a
normal distribution.For a symmetrical distribution, the mean is in the
middle; if the distribution is also mound-shaped, then values near the
mean are typical but if a distribution is skewed, then the mean is
usually not in the middle. Example: -The mean of the ten numbers
1,1,1,2,2,3,5,8,12,17 is 52/10 of the ten numbers are less than the
mean, with only three of the ten numbers greater that the mean.A
better measure of the center for this distribution would be the
median, which in this case is (2+3)/2=2.5. Five of the numbers are less
than 2.5, and five are greater. Notice that in this example, the mean is
greater the medain. This is common for a distribution that is skewed
to the right (that is bunched up toward the left and with a "tail"
stretching toward the right.) Typically has a mean smaller than it's
media. (Note that for a symmetrical distribution,such as a normal
distribution, the mean and median are the same.) Implication for
Applying Statistical Techniques -How do we work with skewed
distributions when so many statistical techniques give in information
about the mean? First, note that most of these techniques assume that
the random variable in question has a distribution that is normal.
Many of these techniques are somewhat "robust" to departures from
normality that is, they still give pretty accurate results if the random
variable has a distribution that is not too far from normal. But many
common statistical techniques are not valid for strongly skewed
distributions.Two possible alternative are: I-Taking Logarithms of
The Original Variable -Fortunately, many of the skewed random
variables that arise in application are lognornal. That means that the
logarithm of the random variable technique can be applied to the
logarithm of the original variable.( With robust techniques
approximately lognornal distributions can also be handled by taking
logarithms .) However, doing this many require some care in
interpretation. These are three common routes to interpretation
when dealing with logs of variable. 1. In May fields, it is common to
work with the log of the original outcome variable , rather than the
original variable. Thus one might do a hypothesis test for equality of
the means of the logs will tell you that the original distributions are
different, which is some application may answer the question of
interest 2. For situations that require interpretation in terms of the
original Variable, we can often exploit the fact that the logarithm
transformation and it's inverse, the exponential transformation,
preserve order. 3. In some situations, we can use properties of logs to
say useful things when we back transform. Note: Not all skewed
distributions are close enough to lognormal to be handled using a log
transformation sometimes other transformation (e,g., Square roots)
can yield a distribution that is close enough to apply standard
techniques. However, interpretation will depend on the
transformation used . II-Quantile Regression Techniques -Standard
regression estimates the mean of the conditional, distribution
(conditioned on the values of the predictors) of the response variable.
For example, in simple linear regression, with one predictor X and
response variable Y, we calculate an equation y= a+bx that tells us
that when X takes on the value x, the mean of Y is approximately a+bx.
Quantile regression is a method for estimating conditional quantiles,
including the median. Measure of Spread -For a normal distribution,
the standard deviation is very appropriate measure of variability (or
spread) of the distribution. (Indeed, if you know a distribution is
normal, then knowing it's mean and standard deviation tells you
exactly which normal distribution you have.) But for skewed
distributions, the standard deviation give no information on the
asymmetry. It is a better to use the first and third quartiles since these
will