[R] A question on Statistics

[Christofer Bogaso]

Hi,

I have a quick question on Statistical distribution as follows, hoping
Statisticians here would give me very insightful feedback.

Say, I have a large sample from a highly asymmetric distribution ranging
from -Inf to +Inf. Now I wish to calculate sample X1 and X2 within which
middle 70% probability would reside.

One approach
x = my sample
calculatte quantile(x, prob = 15%) & quantile(x, prob = 85%)

another approach
calculate quantile(abs[x], prob = 85%)
In this case X1 and X2 would be +/- of above result.

My question is in all scenarios, are above two approach equivalent? If not
which is the better approach to find such range.

Thanks,

	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]