Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) ATI Mathematics Practice Test

What can be inferred about the number of trees planted by Juniors and Seniors based on the skewness?

1. The number of trees planted by the Juniors is positively skewed, while the Seniors is approximately normal.

2. The number of trees planted by the Juniors is negatively skewed, while the Seniors is positively skewed.

3. The number of trees planted by the Juniors is positively skewed, while the Seniors is negatively skewed.

4. The number of trees planted by the Juniors is approximately normal, while the Seniors is positively skewed.

The correct answer is: The number of trees planted by the Juniors is negatively skewed, while the Seniors is positively skewed.

The correct inference indicates that the number of trees planted by the Juniors displays a negative skew, while the Seniors exhibit a positive skew. This understanding of skewness is vital for interpreting data distributions. Negative skewness, or left skewness, occurs when the tail of the distribution extends further to the left, meaning that most of the data points (in this case, the number of trees planted) are concentrated towards the higher values, with a few lower values pulling the mean to the left of the median. This can suggest that many Juniors planted a relatively high number of trees but that some planted significantly fewer, hence the negative skew. In contrast, positive skewness, or right skewness, appears when the tail of the distribution is stretched further to the right, indicating that most of the data points are clustered at lower values, with a few higher values driving the mean to the right of the median. For the Seniors, this suggests that while most of the Senior students planted a lower number of trees, there are a few who planted significantly more. This distinction between the distributions for Juniors and Seniors can provide insights into their planting behaviors and trends, guiding further analysis or action based on the characteristics of the data.