Shape

Definition

In statistics, shape refers to the overall appearance or form of a distribution. It describes how the data is distributed and can be characterized by its symmetry, skewness, or modality.

Analogy

Think of shape as the silhouette of a person. Just like different body shapes can vary in terms of curves and proportions, statistical distributions can have different shapes that indicate their unique characteristics.

Related terms

Symmetry: Symmetry refers to a distribution that is evenly balanced around its center point. It has equal amounts of data on both sides when folded in half.

Skewness: Skewness measures the asymmetry of a distribution. If one tail is longer or extends further than the other, it indicates positive (right-skewed) or negative (left-skewed) skewness.

Modality: Modality describes the number of peaks or modes in a distribution. It helps identify whether a distribution is unimodal (one peak), bimodal (two peaks), or multimodal (more than two peaks).