[b]1. Center: [/b][color=#c00000][u]Where the middle of the data set is located. [/u][/color]Mean, median, and mode are the most used measures of center.[br][b]2. Variation (Spread): [/b][color=#c00000][u]A measure of the amount that the data values vary. [/u][/color]Standard deviation, variance, and range are the most used measures of variation. (Variance variation.)[br][b]3. Distribution (Shape): [/b][color=#c00000][u]The nature or shape of the spread of the data over the range of values. [/u][/color]Generic shapes include bell-shaped, right skewed, left skewed, flat, and U-shaped. Specific distributions include binomial distribution, normal distribution, t-distribution, uniform, Poisson, chi-squared .[br][b]4. Outliers: [/b][color=#c00000][u]Sample values that lie very far away from the vast majority of the other sample values.[/u][/color][br][b]5. Time: [/b][color=#c00000][u]Any change in the characteristics of the data over time.[/u][/color][br]A mnemonic to remember the five characteristics of data is [b]CVDOT.[/b] Or the sentence “[b]C[/b]omputer [b]V[/b]iruses [b]D[/b]estroy [b]O[/b]r [b]T[/b]erminate.”[br]All of these characteristics can be very informative.