Appraisal Counseling Practice Exam

In a negatively skewed distribution, the tail on the left side of the distribution is longer or fatter than the right side. This means that most of the data points are concentrated on the higher end of the scale. As a result, the mean will generally be lower than the median because extreme low values pull the mean down. The relationship between the mean and median in a negatively skewed distribution is crucial to understanding its characteristics. The mean, being sensitive to outliers, is affected more by the values in the left tail, while the median, SAMPLErepresenting the middle value of the data, remains at a higher position relative to the mean due to the clustering of values on the higher end. This understanding reinforces why the statement regarding the mean being less than the median is true in the context of a negatively skewed distribution.