Kurtosis: Peakedness and Flatness Measure
Kurtosis is the statistical measure that describes the peakedness or flatness of a frequency distribution's tails relative to its center, specifically when compared to a normal distribution.
- A high kurtosis (leptokurtic) indicates heavier tails and a sharper peak than the normal distribution.
- A low kurtosis (platykurtic) indicates lighter tails and a flatter peak.
- A mesokurtic distribution has kurtosis similar to the normal distribution.
Why Other Options Are Incorrect
- Skewness measures the asymmetry or lack of symmetry in a distribution.
- Variability (like variance or standard deviation) measures the spread or dispersion of data points around the mean.
- Probability refers to the likelihood of an event occurring.
Therefore, kurtosis is the correct term for peakedness or flatness.