Question

In a survey of household income, the incomes are positively skewed. In order to present an accurate depiction of household income, the best measure of central tendency to use is the ________.

1) median
2) mode
3) mean
4) standard deviation

Answer 1

The best measure of central tendency to use when the data is positively skewed is the median.

Step-by-step explanation:

The best measure of central tendency to use when the data is positively skewed is the median.

In skewed distributions, the mean is affected by extreme values and may not accurately represent the center of the data. The mode, on the other hand, does not provide a good measure of central tendency in skewed distributions.

For example, if we have a survey of household incomes and the incomes are positively skewed, it means that there are a few households with very high incomes that pull the mean higher. However, the median represents the income at the middle point, which is less affected by extreme values, making it a better measure of central tendency in this case.