The Normal Distribution and Other

Continuous Distributions
Continuous distributions: random variables that can take values at every point over a given interval.
- Usually generated from experiments where things are measured.
- Continuous distributions are fundamental to understanding and applying inferential statistical tech-
niques.
- The normal distribution is a continuous distribution that provides the basis for much inferential statistics
work involving probabilities

The Normal Distribution

Normal distribution: bell-shaped appearance
- When probabilities are calculated for discrete variable values such as
0, 1 and 2, a discrete distribution such as the binomial or Poisson distribution may be used
- When using continuous distributions, a specified range of values needs to be used
- the probability of an exact value is equal to zero
- P(a ≤ x ≤ b) and P(a < x < b) are equal in value and can be used interchangeably.

History and characteristics of the normal distribution

The normal distribution is sometimes referred to as the Gaussian distribution (German mathematician Carl
Gauss).

Characteristics
- The normal distribution is referred to as being bell-shaped
- It is a continuous distribution.
- This bell-shaped curve can be represented by a formula called the normal probability density
function.

- The defining
parameters of the normal distribution are the mean (𝜇) and standard deviation (𝜎).
- There are an infinite number of possible combinations of these two parameters
- There are an infinite number of different normal distributions
- Symmetrical and centred on the mean, with the mean = median and mode.
- The distribution is unimodal (it has one mode), with the highest point on the normal distribution
occurring at the value of the mean, median and mode.
 - Shape of the curve to the right of the mean (0.5) = the shape of the curve to the left of the mean (0.5)
- The total area under the curve of any normal probability distribution equals 1.
- Ends of the curve (the tails) extend horizontally to an infinite value in both directions but never touch the
horizontal axis → asymptotic
- Empirical rule states the approximate percentage of values that lie within a given number of standard
deviations from the mean if the data are normally distributed.
- This rule is used only for three multiples of the standard deviation: 1𝜎, 2𝜎 and 3𝜎

The Standardised normal distribution

Standardised normal distribution (or z distribution): The selected normal distribution for tabulating all
probabilities, which has a μ=0and a σ =1.
- The probability values calculated over specific ranges of z-scores are typically presented in tabular
form.
- To use the standardised normal distribution tabulated values, a given normal distribution with mean 𝜇
and standard deviation 𝜎 needs any x value of the given normal distribution to be transformed into a z-
score

x−μ
Standardisation z=
σ
(σ ≠ 0)

Z-score is the number of standard deviations that a value of x is above or below the mean
- x < μ → z-score is negative.
- x > μ → z-score is positive.
- X = μ → z-score equals zero.

- The z formula allows conversion of the distance of any x value from its mean into standard deviation
units (standardisation).
- A standard z-score table can be used to find probabilities for any normal distribution problem that has
been converted to z-scores.
Solving normal distributions
Many statistical problems require finding the area under part of a normal distribution for a specified range of
the variable.
- Often requires the transformation of a variable into a z-score and then finding probabilities from the
standard normal tables.

The normal distribution approximation to the binomial

distribution
The normal distribution can be used to approximate the probabilities for certain types of binomial distribution
problems. As sample sizes become large, binomial distributions approach the normal distribution in shape
regardless of the value of p.
- If p ≈ 0.50, this phenomenon is observed to occur for a smaller value of n compared to p < 0.50 OR p >
50

To solve a binomial problem using the normal distribution requires a translation process.
- convert the two parameters of a binomial distribution, n and p, into the two parameters of the normal
distribution, 𝜇 and 𝜎.

Solving
- Does the interval 𝜇 ± 3𝜎 lie between 0 and n?
- For a normal distribution approximation of a binomial distribution problem to be acceptable, all
possible x values should be between 0 and n, which are the lower and upper limits,
respectively, of a binomial distribution.
- If 𝜇 ± 3𝜎 is not between 0 and n, do not use the normal distribution to solve a binomial
problem because the approximation is not close enough.
- However, if this condition is satisfied, then the normal distribution is a good approximation for
a binomial problem and the procedure can continue.
OR
- Approximate a binomial problem is that the approximation is close enough if both np > 5 and nq > 5.

The Uniform Distribution

Uniform distribution (rectangular distribution): The probability density function, f(x), is constant over a specified
range of values.
 - Since the distribution is a probability density function, by definition the total area under the curve is
equal to 1.
- In this case, the area can be found by calculating the product of the side lengths of a rectangle

The exponential distribution

Exponential distribution: describes the probability distribution of the times between these random
occurrences.
- Closely related to the Poisson distribution.
- Different to Poisson: poisson distribution is discrete and describes the probability of random occurrence
of events over an interval
- Used to solve problems that relate to quality-control or manufacturing processes.
- Poisson and exponential distributions are used together to solve queuing problems
Characteristics
- It is a continuous distribution
- It is a family of distributions.
- It is skewed to the right.
- The x values range from zero to infinity.
- Its apex is always at x = 0.
- The curve steadily decreases as x gets larger
- Characterised by the single parameter 𝜆, which is the average number of occurrences in an interval
𝜇=1 1
- The mean of an exponential distribution is given by λ and the standard deviation by 𝜎 = λ

Probabilities for the exponential distribution

As with all continuous probability distributions, the area under the curve formed between two endpoints gives
the probability of the random variable occurring in that interval.
- For the exponential distribution, the probability that a random variable x will take a value larger than a
specific value x0 is given by: