In a right-skewed distribution with a few large values, which measure tends to be larger?

In a right-skewed distribution with a few large values, which measure tends to be larger?

• A. The mean is larger than the median.
• B. The median is larger than the mean.
• C. They are always equal.
• D. The mode is larger than both.

Answer: (A)

In a right-skewed distribution, a few large values pull the average upward. The mean uses every data point, so those extreme high values raise it, while the median depends only on the middle value and isn’t swayed much by outliers. So the mean tends to be larger than the median. The mode isn’t typically larger than both in this shape, and equality of mean and median happens mainly in symmetric distributions or when data are identical.

In a right-skewed distribution, a few large values pull the average upward. The mean uses every data point, so those extreme high values raise it, while the median depends only on the middle value and isn’t swayed much by outliers. So the mean tends to be larger than the median. The mode isn’t typically larger than both in this shape, and equality of mean and median happens mainly in symmetric distributions or when data are identical.