What is the best measure of central tendency for data distributions that are skewed?

• A. Mean
• B. Mode
• C. Median
• D. Geometric mean

Answer: (C)

When data are skewed, the best measure of central tendency is the median. It is the middle value when the data are ordered, so it reflects the center of the bulk of observations without being influenced by extreme values in the tails. The mean, on the other hand, uses every data point, so a few very large or very small values can pull it toward the tail and misrepresent where most data lie. The mode can be unstable or uninformative if the distribution isn’t clearly peaked, and the geometric mean is appropriate mainly for multiplicative data or strictly positive values and can still be swayed by outliers in skewed sets. The median remains robust and representative of the typical observation in skewed distributions.