Skewness

Pearl Ann G. Villa

Reperoter
What is Skewness?
Skewness refers to a distortion or asymmetry that
deviates from the symmetrical bell curve, or 
normal distribution, in a set of data. If the curve is
shifted to the left or to the right, it is said to be
skewed and they are called positive skewed and
negative skewed. (Chen, 2021)
 Besides positive and negative skew, distributions can
also be said to have zero or undefined skew. In the
curve of a distribution, the data on the right side of the
curve may taper differently from the data on the left side.
These taperings are known as "tails." Negative skew
refers to a longer or fatter tail on the left side of the
distribution, while positive skew refers to a longer or
fatter tail on the right.
Pearson’s Skewness
Formulas
where:
Sk1​
=Pearson’s first coefficient of skewness and Sk2​
Or the second
s = the standard deviation for the sample
= is the mean value
Mo=the modal (mode) value
Md=is the median value​

Pearson’s first coefficient of skewness is useful if the data exhibit

a strong mode. If the data have a weak mode or multiple modes,
Pearson’s second coefficient may be preferable, as it does not rely on
mode as a measure of central tendency.
Scores’
Interpretation
 A large negative value means the distribution is
negatively skewed.

 A large positive value means the distribution is

positively skewed.
Exampl
e
Sample problem: Use Pearson’s Coefficient #1 and #2 to
find the skewness for data with the following
characteristics:

Mean = 70.5
Median = 80
Mode = 85
Standard deviation = 19.33
Pearson’s Coefficient of Skewness #1 (Mode):

Step 1: Subtract the mode from the mean:

Step 2: Divide by the standard deviation:

Pearson’s Coefficient of Skewness #2
(Median):

Step 1: Subtract the median from the mean:

Step 2: Multiply Step 1 by 3:

Step 2: Divide by the standard deviation:

What is the implication of skewness in the test
scores?
If the skewness is a positively skewed, it means
the test questions are very difficult for the test-takers
or the test-takers are extremely dull.

If it is negatively skewed, the test-takers find the

questions very easy, or the test-takers are very smart.
Takeawa
ys!
 The direction of skewness is given by the sign.
 A value of zero means no skewness at all.
 A large negative value means the distribution is
negatively skewed.
 A large positive value means the distribution is
positively skewed.