SKEW

Returns the skewness of a distribution. Skewness characterizes the degree of asymmetry of a distribution around its mean. Positive skewness indicates a distribution with an asymmetric tail extending toward more positive values. Negative skewness indicates a distribution with an asymmetric tail extending toward more negative values.

Syntax

SKEW(number1,number2, ...)

Number1,number2, ...   are 1 to 30 arguments for which you want to calculate skewness. You can also use a single array or a reference to an array instead of arguments separated by commas.

Remarks

• The arguments must be either numbers or names, arrays, or references that contain numbers.
• If an array or reference argument contains text, logical values, or empty cells, those values are ignored; however, cells with the value zero are included.
• If there are fewer than three data points, or the sample standard deviation is zero, SKEW returns the #DIV/0! error value.
• The equation for skewness is defined as:

  

Example

SKEW(3,4,5,2,3,4,5,6,4,7) equals 0.359543