Question

A distribution of raw scores is positively skewed. You want to transform it so that it is normally distributed. Your friend, who fancies herself a statistic whiz, advises you to transform the raw scores to z scores; that the z scores will be normally distributed. You should

a. ignore the advice because your friend flunked her last statistics test
b. ignore the advice because z distributions have the same shape as the raw scores
c. take the advice because z distributions are always normally distributed
d. take the advice because z distributions are always normally distributed

Answer 1

Transforming the raw scores to z-scores does not guarantee a normal distribution.

Step-by-step explanation:

Transforming the raw scores to z-scores can help in standardizing the distribution, but it does not ensure that the transformed distribution will be normally distributed. Option B is the correct choice, as z distributions have the same shape as the raw scores. The only difference is that the z distribution has a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1. Therefore, taking the advice of transforming the raw scores to z-scores will not guarantee a normal distribution.