Discrete random variables

Discrete random variables

• A random variable is one whose value is determined by the outcome of an experiment.
• Discrete random variables generally deal with number or size and are countable.
• Two important characteristics satisfy all discrete probability distributions:
o Each probability lies in a restricted interval 0  P( X = x)  1.
o The probabilities of a particular experiment sum to 1; that is, P( X = x) = 1.
If these two characteristics are not satisfied, there is no discrete probability distribution.
• A probability distribution is said to be a ‘uniform distribution’ if all outcomes of the event are equal.

Expected values
• The expected value of a discrete random variable, X, is denoted by E(X). It is defined by the rule
E ( X ) = xP( X = x) .

Variance and standard deviation

• The variance is the measure of spread of a random variable distribution and tells us how the data is
dispersed. It is denoted by var( X ) or by  2 .

Variance is calculated using the equation var( X ) =  2 = E ( X 2 ) − E ( X )

2
•

• var ( aX + b ) = a 2 var( X )

• The standard deviation of X is the square root of the variance of X and is denoted by SD ( X ) or  . If the
standard deviation is large, the spread of the data is large. If the standard deviation is small, the data is
clumped together, close to the mean.

• Standard deviation is calculated from the variance: SD ( X ) =  = var ( X ) .