Identify, from the following, the moment used as a measure of skewness?

The correct answer is Third moment

Key Points

• The first moment is called the MEAN which describes the center of the distribution.
• The second moment is the VARIANCE which describes the spread of the observations around the center.
• The third moment describes other aspects of a distribution such as how the distribution is skewed from its mean or peaked.
• Skewness is a measure of the asymmetry of a probability distribution about its mean.
• The third moment is often used as a measure of skewness, as it indicates the degree of asymmetry of a distribution.
• A positive third moment indicates that the distribution is skewed to the right, while a negative third moment indicates that the distribution is skewed to the left.

Additional Information

• Skewness is a measure of the asymmetry of a distribution
• Third moment is used as a measure of skewness
• Positive third moment indicates a right-skewed distribution
• Negative third moment indicates a left-skewed distribution
• Other measures of skewness include the mean deviation and the coefficient of mean deviation.
• The third moment should be used with caution as it can be sensitive to outliers, and may not always accurately reflect the shape of a distribution. 
  • It is important to consider the overall shape of a distribution and use multiple measures of skewness when analyzing data.