For symmetric distributions, the conceptual problem disappears because at the population level the mode, mean, and median are identical. For skewed distributions, however, these 3 metrics are markedly different. In practice, for skewed distributions the most commonly reported typical value is the mean; the next most common is the median; the least common is the mode. Because each of these 3 metrics reflects a different aspect of "centerness", it is recommended that the analyst report at least 2 (mean and median), and preferably all 3 (mean, median, and mode) in summarizing and characterizing a data set.