Lesson 3:

THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
a. Differentiate normal distribution and standard normal distribution; and
b. Use the standard normal distribution table to determine area under the standard
normal curve.

Normal distribution, also known

as the Gaussian distribution, plays a
central role in psychological statistics.
This is because many psychological
variables, such as intelligence, personality
traits, and emotional states, are naturally
distributed in a way that closely follows
the normal distribution.

In psychological research, the

normal distribution is often used in
hypothesis testing, where researchers are
interested in determining whether a
sample of data is significantly different
from a known population or distribution. The normal distribution is often used as a
reference or benchmark distribution, and researchers can compare their data to this
distribution to determine whether their results are statistically significant.

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PROPERTIES OF A NORMAL DISTRIBUTION

A normal distribution is a continuous, symmetric, bell-shaped distribution of a

variable. The known characteristics of the normal curve make it possible to estimate the
probability occurrence of any value of a normally distributed variable. The properties of
the normal distribution are as follows:

1. The distribution is bell-shaped.

2. The mean, median, and mode are equal and are located at the center of the
distribution.
3. The normal distribution is unimodal.
4. The normal distribution curve is symmetric about the mean (the shapes are same
on both sides).
5. The normal distribution is continuous.
6. The normal curve is asymptotic at x-axis.
7. The total area under the normal distribution curve is 1.00 or 100%.
8. The area under the part of a normal curve that lies within 1 standard deviation of
the mean is 68%, within 2 standard deviation is about 95%, and with 3 standard
deviation is about 99.7%.

OTHER TYPES OF DISTRIBUTION

a. Positively Skewed Distribution. In this distribution, most of the values in the data
fall to the left of the mean and group at the lower end of the distribution, the tail
is to the right. In addition, the mean is to the right of the median, and the mode is
to the left of the median.

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 b. Negatively Skewed Distribution. A distribution in which the mass of the data
values falls to the right of the mean and group at the upper end of the
distribution, with the tail to the left. The mean is to the left of the median, and the
mode is to the right of the median.

STANDARD NORMAL DISTRIBUTION

A normal distribution can be converted into a standard normal distribution by

obtaining the z value. A z value is the signed distance between a selected value,
designated x, and the mean divided by the standard deviation. It is also called the z score,
z statistics, standard normal deviates, or the standard normal values. It is given by the
formula:
x-x
z=
σ
where: z = z value
x = the value of any particular observation
x = mean
Σ = standard deviation

Example 1: A student has a score of 56 in his midterm examination is Psychological

Statistics in which the average score of the whole class is 54 with σ = 2.31. The same
student has a score of 61 in his midterm examination in Advanced Statistics in which the
average score of the whole class is 68 with σ = 5.17. Determine which subject did the
student excel most.

Step 1. Solve for the z scores of the student in the two subjects.
56-54
Psychological Statistics: z1 = 2.31
= 0.87
61-68
Advanced Statistics: z2 = 5.17
= -1.35

Step 2. Interpret the results. Notice that the z score of the student in Psychological
Statistics is greater than his z score in Advanced Statistics. This suggests that the student
perform better in Psychological Statistics than in Advanced Statistics.

This time, we shall be using the Standard Normal Distribution table to determine
the area under the normal curve.

Example 2: Determine the area under the standard normal curve between z = 0 and z
= 1.85.

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Step 1. Draw the figure to represent the area.

0 1.85

Step 2. Locate the area of the shaded region using the Standardized Normal Distribution
table.
z 0.00 0.01 … 0.05 …
0.0 0.0000 0.0040 … 0.0199 …
0.1 0.0398 0.0438 … 0.0596 …
0.2 0.0793 0.0832 … 0.0987 … P(0 < z < 1.85)
: : : … : …
1.8 0.4641 0.4649 … 0.4678 …
: : : … … …

P(0<z<1.85) = 0.4678
0.4678

0 1.85

Hence, the area under the normal curve from z = 0 to z = 1.85 is 0.4678.

APPLICATIONS OF THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION

Example 3: To qualify for a master’s degree program in Psychology, a candidate must

score in the top of 20% on mental ability test. The test has a mean score of 180 and a
standard deviation of 25. Find the probability that an applicant will qualify in the program
if his score in mental ability test is 187.

Step 1. Solve for the z-score.

z = (187 – 180)/25 = 0.28.
This means that the score of 187 is 0.28 standard deviation above the mean score.
Step 2. Draw the figure to represent the area.

0 0.28

Step 3. Find the area under the normal curve to the right of z=0.28 which represents the
top 20% of scores. Based on the normal distribution table, a z score of 0.28 =

ACCTY 312 - Statistical Analysis with Software Applications 4

 0.1103. Take note that the area needed to solve is at the right of 0.28. Also note
that the whole right region of the curve equals 0.50 or 50%.
This means that to solve for the shaded region, we subtract 0.1103 from 0.50.
As a result, the area of the shaded region would be 0.50 – 0.1103 = 0.39.
Hence, the probability that an applicant will quality to the master’s degree
program in Psychology, given that his score in mental ability test is 187, is 39%
only.

Example 4: In a medical examination, 300 people underwent height measurement and

was found out that the average height of all are 150 cm. If the standard deviation
is 19, find the number of people that fall under the given conditions:
a. With height less than 132 cm.
b. With height from 140 cm to 180 cm.
c. With height taller than 200 cm.

Solution (a)
Step 1. Solve for z score for a height of 132 cm: z = (132 – 150)/19 = -0.95.
Step 2. Locate the value of -0.95 in the normal distribution table. We can find in the table
that the proportion of people with a z-score less than -0.95 is 0.17.
Step 3. Compute for the total number of people with height less than 132 cm.
That is, 300 people x 0.17 = 51.33 or 51.

Therefore, there are 51 people with height less than 132 cm.

Solution (b)
Step 1. Solve for z scores for a height of 140 cm and 180 cm.
z1 = (140 – 150)/19 = -0.53
z2 = (180 – 150)/19 = 1.58
Step 2. Illustrate the normal curve for easier identification of the area.

-0.53 0 1.58

Step 3. Locate the values of z1 and z2 in the normal distribution table.

P(-0.53 < z 1.58) or
P(-0.53 < z < 0) + P(0 < z < 1.58)
0.20 + 0.46 = 0.66
Step 4. Calculate the number of people with height from 140 cm to 180 cm.
300 x 0.66 = 198
Hence, there are 198 people with height from 140 cm to 180 cm.

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 EXERCISES 3

Name: ______________________________________________________________________ Score: ______________

Course/Section: ____________________________________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Find the probability of each under the normal curve.

a. P(0 < z < 1.56) b. P(z < 2.23)

c. P(0.38 < z < 2.27) d. P(z < -1) + P(z > 0.84)

e. P(z < 1.73) f. P(z > 0.58

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2. Solve the following:
a. The average score of employees on a mental examination is 120. The standard
deviation of the scores is 30. What is the percentage of the employees with scores
less than the 100?

b. The time needed to finish an examination is normally distributed with mean of 56

minutes and SD of 1.2 minutes. What is the probability that a randomly selected
examinee will consume more than 60 minutes in the examination?

c. A study claimed that the average weight of a depressed teenager is 83 kilograms

with SD of 2.3 kilograms. If the study is correct, what is the probability that a
randomly selected teenager with depression has a weight less than 70?

d. The amount of time that students devote to their review session in a week is
normally distributed with a mean of 6.5 hours and SD of 3.2 hours. What is the
probability that 30 randomly selected students review between 3 and 5 hours per
week?

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