Case Study

Based on the provided case context, explain how the distribution of weekly drinks is structured and justify why this represents a positively skewed distribution.

Case context: A health psychologist is measuring the number of alcoholic drinks consumed by college students in a single week. The vast majority of students report drinking very little (between 0 and 2 drinks), causing a tall peak near the zero point of the scale. A very small number of students report drinking 20 or more drinks in a week, which stretches the graph's outline far to the right.

Question: Based on the provided case context, explain how the distribution of weekly drinks is structured and justify why this represents a positively skewed distribution.

Sample answer: This dataset represents a positively skewed distribution because the main peak (the most frequent values) is located at the lower end of the measurement range (0 to 2 drinks), while a small number of students consuming 20 or more drinks creates a long tail extending toward the higher-value (positive) direction.

Key points:

  • Peak is at the lower end of the measurement range
  • A small number of high-value observations exist
  • The long tail extends toward the positive or higher-value direction

Rubric: Students must identify that the peak is at the lower end of the range and explain that the few high-consumption outliers create a long tail extending toward the higher-value or positive direction.

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Updated 2026-05-27

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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