Bucket plot: A visual tool for skewness and kurtosis comparisons

Abstract

This study introduces the bucket plot, a visual tool to detect skewness and kurtosis in a continuously distributed random variable. The plot can be applied to both moment and centile skewness and kurtosis. The bucket plot is used to detect skewness and kurtosis either in a response variable, or in the residuals from a fitted model as a diagnostic tool by which to assess the adequacy of a fitted distribution to the response variable regarding skewness and kurtosis. We demonstrate the bucket plot in nine simulated skewness and kurtosis scenarios, and the usefulness of the plot is shown in a real-data situation.