Module 1
the amount of spread, dispersion, or variability
Definitions of Random Variable
A random variable is a result of chance event,
that you can measure or count.
A random variable is a numerical quantity that
is assigned to the outcome of an experiment. It
is a variable that assumes numerical values
associated with the events of an experiment.
A random variable is a quantitative variable
which values depends on change.
NOTE:
We use capital letters to represent a random
variable.
Discrete and Continuous Random Variable
A random variable may be classified as discrete
and continuous.
A discrete random variable has a countable
number of possible values.
A continuous random variable can assume an
infinite number of values in one or more
intervals.
MODULE 2
Mean of a Discrete Random Variable
The Mean µ of a discrete random variable is the
central value or average of its corresponding
probability mass function. It is also called as the
Expected Value. It is computed using the
formula:
µ = ∑ 𝑋𝑃(𝑥)
Where x is the outcome and p(x) is the
probability of the outcome.
The variance and standard deviation describe
of the items in a distribution.
The variance and standard deviation are two
values that describe how scattered or spread
out the scores are from the mean value of the
random variable. The variance, denoted as σ2,
is determined using the formula:
σ2 = ∑(𝑥 − µ)2p(x)
The standard deviation σ is the square root of
the variance, thus,
σ = ඥ∑(𝑥 − µ)²𝑝(𝑥)
σ2 - variance σ – standard deviation
µ - mean p(x) – probability of the outcome
module 3
1. The graph is a continuous curve and has a
domain -∞ < X < ∞.
• This means that X may increase or decrease
without bound.
2. The graph is asymptotic to the x-axis. The
value of the variable gets closer and
closer but will never be equal to 0.
• As the x gets larger and larger in the positive
direction, the tail of the
curve approaches but will never touch the
horizontal axis. The same
thing when the x gets larger and larger in the
negative direction.
3. The highest point on the curve occurs at x =
µ (mean).
• The mean (µ) indicates the highest peak of the
curve and is found at
the center.
• Take note that the mean is denoted by this
symbol µ and the standard
deviation is denoted by this symbol standard
deviation.
• The median and mode of the distribution are
also found at the center
of the graph. This indicates that in a
normal distribution, the mean, median
and mode are equal.
4. The curve is symmetrical about the mean.
• This means that the curve will have
balanced proportions when cut in
halves and the area under the curve to
the right of mean (50%) is equal to the
area under the curve to the left of the mean
(50%).
5. The total area in the normal distribution
under the curve is equal to 1.
• Since the mean divides the curve into halves,
50% of the area is to the
right and 50% to its left having a total of 100%
or 1.
6. In general, the graph of a normal
distribution is a bell-shaped curve with two
inflection points, one on the left and another
on the right. Inflection points are
the points that mark the change in the curve’s
concavity.
• Inflection point is the point at
which a change in the direction of
curve at mean minus standard
deviation and mean plus
standard deviation.
• Note that each inflection point of
the normal curve is one standard deviation
away from the mean.
7. Every normal curve corresponds to the
“empirical rule” (also called the 68 -
95 - 99.7% rule):
• about 68.3% of the area under the
curve falls within 1 standard
deviation of the mean
• about 95.4% of the area under
the curve falls within 2 standard
deviations of the mean
• about 99.7% of the area under
the curve falls within 3 standard
deviations of the mean.
Note: The z-table used is the Cumulative
Distribution Function (CDF) of the
Standard Normal Curve.
.
The probability notation P(a < Z < b) indicates
that the z-value is between a
and b, P(Z > a) means z-value is above a and P(Z
< a) means z-value is below a. It
would not matter whether we are considering
P(Z < a) or P(Z ≤ a) or P(Z > a) or P(Z ≥a)
A percentile is a measure used in statistics
indicating the value below which
a given percentage of observations in a group
of observations fall.
module 4
Central Limit Theorem states that the sampling
distribution of the mean approaches a normal
distribution, as the sample size increases.
Regardless of the initial shape of the
population distribution, if samples of size
are randomly selected from a population, the
sampling distribution of the sampling
means will approach a normal distribution as
the sample size n gets larger.
The standard error of the mean measures the
degree of accuracy of the
sample mean ( 𝑥̅ ) as an estimate of the
population mean (). It is also known as
the standard deviation of the sampling
distribution of the sampling mean, denoted
by 𝑥̅
.
Formula: 𝒙̅ =
σ
√𝒏
σ = population standard deviation
n = sample size
Central Limit theorem is important because it
teaches researchers to use a
limited sample to make intelligent and
accurate conclusions about a greater
population. It also justifies the use of normal
curve methods for a wide range of
problems.
Furthermore, it justifies the use of the formula
𝒛=
𝑿̅ − 

√𝒏
when computing
for the probability that 𝑋̅ will take a value
within a given range in the sampling
distribution of 𝑋̅.
where: 𝑿̅ = is the sample mean
µ = population mean,
σ = population standard deviation
n = sample size