A random sample of dates taken from headstones at a cemetery in Pleasanton, California, showed an average lifespan of 70 years with a standard deviation of 20 years. Assuming the distribution is unimodal, which of the following is most likely a

Question

good description of the distribution?

A. The distribution is most likely skewed to the left.
B. The distribution is most likely skewed to the right.
C. The distribution is most likely relatively symmetric.
D. We cannot tell the shape of the distribution from these
statistics.

Answer 1

Since since people over 70 are more likely to die, the mode is likely to be above the mean. In addition, there are relatively few people who die in childhood or adolescence, I would assume a likely distribution would be negatively skewed (to the left), A.