def _acceleration(data):
    """ Compute the acceleration statistic.

    Parameters
    ----------
    data : array-like
        Sequence of values whose acceleration will be computed.

    Returns
    -------
    acc : float
        The acceleration statistic.

    """

    # intermediate values
    sumcube_resids = ((data.mean() - data) ** 3).sum()

    # dodge the ZeroDivision error
    sumsqr_resids = max(((data.mean() - data) ** 2).sum(), 1e-12)

    # compute and return the acceleration
    return sumcube_resids / (6 * sumsqr_resids ** 1.5)