Which term refers to the situation where the distribution of data has two peaks?

The term that refers to a distribution of data with two peaks is bimodal. In statistical analysis, when a dataset shows two distinct modes, or values that appear with the highest frequency, it indicates that there are two prevalent trends or groups within the data.

This characteristic of bimodal distributions can be useful in identifying patterns, such as the presence of two different subpopulations in the data, which might suggest different underlying phenomena influencing those peaks. For instance, in a survey measuring height in a population where both children and adults are included, the distribution could present two peaks corresponding to the typical heights of those two groups.

Understanding the nature of the data distribution is crucial for data analysis, modeling, and interpretation, as it can significantly influence the choice of statistical methods employed and the insights gleaned from the analysis. A unimodal distribution has only one peak, a multimodal distribution has more than two peaks, and a normal distribution is specifically bell-shaped and unimodal.