Skewness is a number that indicates to what extent a variable is asymmetrically distributed. Quick tutorial with video, examples and formulas. These data are from experiments on wheat grass growth. Skewness in probability theory and statistics is a measure of the asymmetry of the probability distribution of a real -valued random variable about its mean. Similarly to kurtosis, it provides insights into characteristics of a distribution. The skewness formula is called so because the graph plotted is displayed in a skewed manner. Skewness is a measure used in statistics that helps reveal the asymmetry of a probability distribution. It can either be positive or negative, irrespective of the signs. To calculate the skewness , we have to first find the mean and variance of the given data. The skewness formula is given by: A comprehensive visual guide into skewness /kurtosis and how they effect distributions and ultimately, your data science project.