høyreskew

Høyreskew, often translated as right-skew or positive skew in English, refers to a phenomenon in statistics and data analysis where a distribution of values has a tail that extends towards the right side of the graph, indicating a disproportionately large number of low values and a few very high values. This results in the mean being greater than the median, which is in turn greater than the mode.

The shape of a right-skewed distribution can be visualized as a curve that is pulled to the right. Imagine plotting a set of data points; if the majority of the points cluster on the left side and there are a few outliers stretching out to the right, this is characteristic of a right-skewed distribution. This asymmetry is a key feature that distinguishes it from a symmetrical distribution, such as the normal distribution, where the mean, median, and mode are all equal.

Examples of data that commonly exhibit right skew include income distributions, where a small percentage of the population earns significantly higher incomes than the rest, or house prices, where most houses are in a certain price range, but a few luxury properties are much more expensive. Understanding right skew is important for accurate data interpretation and for selecting appropriate statistical methods. Ignoring skewness can lead to misleading conclusions, especially when relying on measures of central tendency that are sensitive to outliers, like the mean.