Distributions

• Distribution curves are used to represent frequency data, allowing us to see an overall pattern in a large set of data.
• The X-axis represents the item of interest & the Y-axis represents the frequency.
• Normal distribution- distribution where the majority of people score towards the middle, with fewer people at the extremes. Forms a bell-shaped curve & tails either side are symmetrical & mean, median & mode are all in the middle.
• Skewed distribution- occurs when there are outliers/extreme scores in the data.
• Skewed distribution positive skew- outliers 'pull' the distribution curve so it has a long skew (tail), mode= highest point, median pulled slightly right in the middle, mean pulled furthest right.
• Skewed distribution negative skew- outliers 'pull' the distribution curve so it has a long tail towards the negative value (left). Mode= highest point, median remains in middle & mean is most skewed.