Random Variables

— what makes them different is that their values are the results of
chance events.
— a function that associates a real number to each element of
the sample space.
— it is number and the value is random (depends of chance)

2 TYPES OF RANDOM VARIABLES:

Discrete
— they are countable.
— there are no values in between.
Continuous
— they are measurable
— there is an in nite number of possible outcomes.

Probability
— it is the ratio between the number of favorable outcomes and
the total number of possible outcomes.
— we can calculate the probability for each random variable by
diving the frequency and the number of outcomes.

Values of X Outcomes Frequency Probability =

( what are the ( the possible ( # of times it frequency /
given values? ) results of each occurred in total number
values ) sample space ) of outcomes
If we simplify the table, if we remove the outcomes and frequency
columns leaving online the random variable and probability, what we
have is called a probability distribution.

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 Probability distributions of random variables have the following

properties:
1. Each probability must be between 0 and 1 (inclusive); AND
2. The sum of the probabilities must be equal to 1.

(<) less than

(>) greater than
At least but not more than (minimum and cannot exceed) =

Mean
— the average number
— formula, where X denotes the random variable, and P(X) is the
corresponding probability:

∑ (read as “Sigma"),
the mean (μ, read as “miu")

1. multiplying each of the values of the random variable by its

corresponding probability, and
2. adding all of the products together

Always round to 4 decimal places.

The last step to obtain the mean is to add all the products
found on the third column.
Another term for the mean of the probability distribution is
Expected Value.

 Variance
— the average of the squared distances from the mean
— remember (if the variance is low, the data tend to be close
together and if higher, the data tend to be farther apart)
To nd the Variance of a Discrete Random Variable, here are
the steps:

1. Find the mean μ

2. Subtract μ from each of the values of the random variable X
3. Square the results from Step 2 (recall that "squaring" means
to multiply by itself)
4. Multiply the results from Step 3 to the corresponding
probability P ( X )
5. Add all the results from Step 4.

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 we can nd the standard deviation σ simply by taking the square

root of the variance:

Probability distributions can be illustrated graphically.

Discrete probability distributions are represented using

histograms.  A histogram represents the random variable as
vertical rectangles. The x-axis contains the ranges of values
(called bins) of the random variable, and the y-axis indicates
the probability.

for discrete random variables, the probability also represents

the proportion or percentage of a value of the random
variable out of all possible values.

The probability/proportion for discrete random variables may

also be referred to as  "mass", and for discrete random
variables, the probability distribution may also be referred to
as "probability mass function".
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 I. Normal Distribution

This curve is the  graph of the normal distribution. Its shape

roughly resembles a bell, which is why it is commonly called the
"bell curve". It is so commonly observed and used that it
eventually became called the "normal" distribution. Another
name for this is the Gaussian distribution.

II. Properties of Normal Distribution

1. A normal distribution has a single mode (or is  unimodal),

as shown by its one peak/hump.
2. A normal distribution  has a center value, which is the
mean μ.
3. A normal distribution is  symmetrical  at the mean, i.e., the
left side is an exact mirror image of the right side.
4. A normal curve  extends in nitely  to the left and right
sides away from the center.
5. The height of the normal curve (or the perpendicular
distance from the x-axis) is maximum at the center, and
decreases as you move farther away. This height never
becomes zero, thus the normal curve  never touches or
crosses the x-axis (asymptotic).
6. For a normal distribution,  the mean, median and mode
are equal.
7. Since the normal distribution is continuous, the probability
is expressed as the area under the curve based on the
boundaries speci ed. Thus, the total area under the curve
is always equal to 1 (or 100%).

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Remember that  the area of the shaded region denotes the

probability. 
 8. The size of the area within 1 standard deviation away from
the mean is approximately 68%. The size of the area within
2 standard deviations away from the mean is approximately
95%. The size of the area within 3 standard deviations away
from the mean is approximately 99.7%. This is referred to
as the Empirical Rule or the 68-95-99.7 Rule. This is true
for any normal distribution.
9. The shape of a normal distribution depends on only two
values: the mean μ and the standard deviation σ

For this reason, a normal distribution is sometimes written in

symbols as  N  (  μ  ,  σ  ), indicating that the curve is a function of
both the mean and standard deviation.
Thus, the phrase "the random variable X is normally distributed
with a mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1" may be written in
symbols as X ∼ N ( 0 , 1 ).

I. Standard Normal Distribution

This normal distribution has the added property of its  mean =

0 and its standard deviation = 1. 

The standard deviation is usually used as "tick marks" to indicate

distances on the x-axis. This helps indicate which values are 1
standard deviation (1SD or 1σ) away from the mean, 2 standard
deviations (2SD or 2σ) and 3 standard deviations (3SD or 3σ)
away (left and right direction). Dividing the normal curve this
way gives the following areas:

 To nd areas within in the graph use this following steps:

a. From the Empirical Values, nd the given area from the

mean and take the half.

b. Focusing on the shaded area, add that small area and

subtract this from the whole half which is 50%.

To nd the areas between two given variables:

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 II. Converting a Normal Random Variable to the

Standard Normal Variable (z-score)

• A special type of normal distribution, known as the

standard normal distribution (or the z-distribution). It has
the added property that its mean is equal to 0, and its
standard deviation is equal to 1.
We also learned about the Empirical Rule or the 68-95-99.7
Rule. It states that  for any  normal distribution, the area (and
hence the probability) is:
• Around 68% within 1 standard deviation from the mean. In
terms of the standard normal distribution, the area under
the curve from -1 to 1 is approximately equal to 68%.
• Around 95% within 2 standard deviations from the mean.
Similarly, this represents the area under the standard
normal curve from -2 to 2.
• Around 99.7% within 3 standard deviations from the mean.
This is from -3 to 3 in a standard normal curve.

 Finding the areas in z-table given the graph:

Left: just nd the corresponding areas.

Right: nd the area and subtract it from 1.
Between: nd the two areas of given values and subtract if
again from 1.

Given a normal distribution with mean and standard

deviation then nd the areas:
a. convert rst the values of x with the given mean and
standard deviation in the problem
b. then follow the same rules applied in nding the areas in z-
table.

I. Using the Standard Normal Distribution for Comparison:

Ex: on which subject did you do better than your classmates.

Assuming that the data are normally distributes?

a. We can solve this problem by converting each of z-scores.

By using the standard normal distribution as the
"common scale", we can compare the z-scores as
needed.

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 Percentile
— divide a ranked distribution into 100 equal parts.

STEPS:

1. Express the given percentile as a decimal. Note that the

percentiles represent areas from the left. We will look for
the z-score bounding this area.
a. Example: 90th percentile to 0.9

2. Using this probability, locate the corresponding z-score

from the z-table. This is the reverse of our previous process
of nding areas. This time, we start with the area, then nd
the z-score.
b. Find the z-score (0.90) exactly or closest to that area.

3. If the exact area is not found, use the closest value or

interpolate to nd z.
c. Since 0.9 is between 0.89973 and 0.90147, we take
the middle of the two corresponding z-scores, 1.28 and
1.29. We do this by getting the average of 1.28 and 1.29:

4. Convert to raw score, if needed in the problem.

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Example problem 1:

a. Find the z-score that denotes the top 5% of the standard

normal curve.
b. This question essentially asks what z-score indicates where
the top 5% of the standard normal curve is located.
Recalling our previous graphs, the "upper" regions are
located to the right of a boundary. Thus, if 5% is to the
right of the z-score, then the remaining 95% is below.
Thus, the problem is like asking for the value at the 95th
percentile.

Example problem 2:

a. The results of a national aptitude test in Mathematics are

normally distributed with  μ = 80 and  σ = 15. Find the
raw score that has 70% of the cases below it.
b. This time we do not have a standard normal distribution.
However, we are given the mean and standard
deviation. The problem asks for the raw score with 70%
to its left, or the 70th percentile.
c. Then covert to raw score. Thus, our nal answer is 87.875.
This score corresponds to the 70th percentile, meaning
70% of the scores are below 87.875.

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