We know that many types of data fall into a normal distribution, with most of the observations falling toward the middle.

However, sometimes there are outliers, or data points that are very different (i.e., larger or smaller) from the others in the sample.

An example from psychology would be Mensa, which requires 98th percentile on a valid, normed test of intelligence for admission. Mensa members are therefore outliers, although some are more so than others.

Review the Slate article on the New England Patriots from the module resources, Another Data Point, for an example of an outlier in the real world.

Choose an example of an outlier in the real world and discuss its effect. When responding to your classmates' posts, evaluate the effects of their chosen outliers.