Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• Explanation of:
– Normal distribution
– Standard normal curve
– Areas in the tail(s)
Population Sample
The normal curve
The normal curve
The normal curve
The normal curve - Height
1 (or 100%)
Example - Melbourne men, aged 40-69 years
15
x ~ 27.2 kg/m2
s ~ 3.5 kg/m2
10
Percent
5
0
15 20 25 30 35 40
Body Mass Index
The normal curve
15 m = 27.2 kg/m2
s = 3.5 kg/m2
10
Percentage
0
15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Body Mass Index (kg/m2)
The normal curve
Area Area
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Z score -z 0 +z
Areas under the Standard Normal curve
Z score -z 0 +z
Areas under the Standard Normal curve
Z score -z 0 +z
The normal curve
z-score
= (30-27.2)/3.5
Z score 0.8 = 0.8
The normal curve
0.21
The normal curve
z-score
= (25-27.2)/3.5
= -0.63
Z score -0.63
The normal curve
z-score
= (25-27.2)/3.5
= -0.63
Z score -0.63
The normal curve
z-score
= (35-27.2)/3.5
= 2.23
z-score
-2.06 2.23
= (20-27.2)/3.5
= -2.06
The normal curve
0.02 0.012
-2.06 2.23
Question - 90% reference range
Z score -z 0 +z
Question - 90% reference range
m ~ 27.2 kg/m2
m = 27.2 kg/m2 and s = 3.5 kg/m2 s ~ 3.5 kg/m2
The 90% reference range for BMI of Melbourne men (age 40-69 yrs) is 21.4 kg/m2
up to 33.0 kg/m2.
Question - 95% reference range
m ~ 27.2 kg/m2
m = 27.2 kg/m2 and s = 3.5 kg/m2 s ~ 3.5 kg/m2
The 95% reference range for BMI of Melbourne men (age 40-69 yrs) is 20.34 kg/m2
up to 34.06 kg/m2.
Question
0.54
Summary
• Normal distribution
– Standard normal curve
– Using z-scores & statistical
tables to calculate
probabilities associated with
any value of a normally
distributed variable.
• Reference range