What does positive skewness indicate?

Positive skewness indicates that a distribution has a longer tail on the right side. This means that the bulk of the data points are clustered towards the lower end of the scale, with a few extreme values or outliers extending towards the higher side. In graphical representations, such as histograms, positive skewness manifests as a distribution that leans towards the left, while the right side stretches out longer, reflecting the presence of these higher values.

This characteristic is significant in statistics because it can influence the mean, median, and standard deviation of the data set. In positively skewed distributions, the mean is typically greater than the median due to the influence of those high-value outliers. Understanding skewness helps in determining the appropriate statistical analyses to conduct and interpreting the results correctly based on the underlying distribution patterns.