Five Main Characteristics of Data
Five Main Characteristics of Data
1. Center: Where the middle of the data set is located. Mean, median, and mode are the most used measures of center.
2. Variation (Spread): A measure of the amount that the data values vary. Standard deviation, variance, and range are the most used measures of variation. (Variance variation.)
3. Distribution (Shape): The nature or shape of the spread of the data over the range of values. Generic shapes include bell-shaped, right skewed, left skewed, flat, and U-shaped. Specific distributions include binomial distribution, normal distribution, t-distribution, uniform, Poisson, chi-squared .
4. Outliers: Sample values that lie very far away from the vast majority of the other sample values.
5. Time: Any change in the characteristics of the data over time.
A mnemonic to remember the five characteristics of data is CVDOT. Or the sentence “Computer Viruses Destroy Or Terminate.”
All of these characteristics can be very informative.
What does this describe?
Standard Deviation
What does this describe?
Median
What does this describe?
Right Skewed
What does this describe?
In A.D. 2015
What does this describe?
Variance