Question 1: Statistical strategy
The strategy here is to analyze the distribution or variation of the data instead of focusing on the measures of central tendency. Measures of central tendency can be misleading especially where the distribution is asymmetrical (Graham 38-80). In this case, the median life expectancy of eight months does not necessarily mean a cancer patient dies within eight months.
Question 2: Shape of the distribution
The available literature shows that cancer patients have a median mortality of eight months. The distribution of the life expectancy of cancer patients is not normally distributed. The data is positively skewed. Half of the cancer patients live more than eight ...