In a right-skewed distribution, which statement is commonly true about the mean and median?

• A. The mean is always smaller than the median.
• B. The median is always smaller than the mean.
• C. The mode is always larger than both.
• D. The mean is typically larger than the median.

Answer: (D)

In a right-skewed distribution, the tail stretches to the right with some unusually large values. Those high values pull the mean upward because the mean takes every data point into account, including outliers. The median, on the other hand, is the middle value when the data are ordered and is less affected by extreme values. This combination means the mean tends to shift above the median in right-skewed data. So stating that the mean is typically larger than the median captures this common pattern. The idea that the mean rises with extreme high values helps explain why this relationship appears more often here.