Winsorize

Winsorization is one method, among others, of handling the problem of outliers in a distribution of data. In addition, researchers sometimes Winsorize to give the distribution more desirable statistical properties. To Winsorize, one converts the value(s) of data points that are outlyingly high to the value of the highest data point not considered to be an outlier. For example, if a survey item on respondents' numbers of sexual partners in the past year yielded answers of 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 (with multiple people giving each of the previous responses), and 100, then Winsorization would convert the 100 to 10. In this sense, the outlyingly high values are reduced in magnitude (or “reined in”) to a value that is still at the high ...