The greater the skew of a distribution of scores,
A) the lower the value of the standard deviation
B) the higher the value of the standard deviation
C) the lower the value of the range
D) none of the above. Measures of dispersion are not affected by skew.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Skewness refers to the degree of departure from symmetry in a distribution. A highly skewed distribution will have a longer tail on one side and a hump on the other side. As a result, the range of values may be larger and the standard deviation may also be larger due to the presence of outliers. Therefore, the higher the degree of skewness, the higher the value of the standard deviation.

The Greater the Skew of a Distribution of Scores