Optimizing Measures of Central Tendency and Spread for Skewed or Outlier Distributions in Math

When the distribution is skewed or has outliers, what should you use to describe the center and spread?

Median and IQR

When the distribution is skewed or has outliers, the median should be used to describe the center instead of the mean. This is because the median is a resistant measure of central tendency and is not affected by extreme values or outliers as much as the mean.

To describe the spread of a skewed or outlier distribution, the interquartile range (IQR) should be used instead of the standard deviation. This is because the IQR is also a resistant measure of spread and is not affected by extreme values or outliers as much as the standard deviation.

In addition to the median and IQR, it may also be useful to provide other measures like the range and percentiles to give a more complete picture of the distribution and how spread out the data is.

More Answers:
Visualizing Math Data: Explore Bar Graphs, Pie Charts, Stacked Bar Graphs and Treemaps
Why Association and Correlation Don’t Imply Causation: A Guide for Accurate Inferences in Math
Understanding the Mean and Standard Deviation in Normal Distribution for Accurate Data Descriptions

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