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ProbabilityDistributions:DiscreteVariables
GeneralStatistics
DiscreteRandomVariables
DiscreteRandomVariablesProbabilityDistributions
Aprobabilitydistributionissimilartoafrequencydistributionorahistogram.Defined
characteristicsofapopulationselectedrandomlyiscalledarandomvariableandwhenthe
valuesofthisvariableismeasurablewecandetermineitsmeanoraverageorexpectedvalue
andalsoitsvarianceandstandarddeviation.
Review:frequencydistribution,meanandvariance
1.Knowwhatismeantbyarandomvariable.
Arandomvariableisanumericalquantitywhosevalueisdeterminedbychance.
Inresearchoneisoftenaskedtostudyapopulation,theresearchersmustthereforedefineor
selectcharacteristicsofthepopulationsthattheywhichtostudyormeasure,thecharacteristics
ofapopulationthatonewishestostudyiscalledarandomvariableanditspossiblevaluesis
thesamplespace.
Thevaluesofthesamplespaceissubjecttochanceandisthereforedeterminedrandomly,these
valuesaresaidtohavebeenoccurredorobserved.
ExamplesofRandomVariables:
Yourincomenext Yourscoreonthe
year nextexam
Tomorrow'shigh Thenumberof
temperature errorsinaphone
book
Howlongyouwait IBM'squarterly
forasoda dividend
Lengthofamovie Theheightofthe
line nextpersonyousee
Amountofmoney YourGPAforthe
youwilllose presentterm
2.Knowwhatismeantbyacontinuousordiscreterandomvariable.
Adiscreterandomvariableisonethatcanassumeonlyinteger(wholenumber,0,1,2,3,4,5,
6,etc.)Values.
Example:ResponsewithYesNovalues,MaximumNumberofadultthatcanfitintoacar(4,
5,6or7),Year(2002),etc.
Acontinuousrandomvariableisonethatcanassumeanyvalueoveracontinuousrangeof
possibilities.
http://www.pindling.org/Math/Statistics/Textbook/Chapter5_Discrete_Dist/discrete_dist_intro.htm 1/6
10/19/2016 Chapter5:DiscreteRandomVariables
Example:Timeofday(12:31:24p.m.),Temperature(60.31450F,Weight(154.25pounds),etc.
Acontinuousrandomvariablemaybereportedalonganintervalwhichshowtherangeof
possiblevalues,samplespace,suchasthefortherandomcontinuousvariable,x,theheightofa
grownman:onestimatewouldbe4feet<x<7feet(Interval).
3.Knowhowtodeterminetheprobabilitydistributionsofdiscreterandomvariables.
Theprobabilitydistributionofadiscreterandomvariableissimilartoafrequencydistributionof
thatvariable.Thisdistributionmaybeillustratedorrepresentedbyeitheratableoragraphical
presentationsuchasahistogram.
Example:Consideranexperimenttocountthenumberofcustomersarrivingduringaspecific
timeinterval(say,numberarrivingat10minutesintervals).Thediscreterandomvariablewould
bethenumberofarrivalsduringthetimeinterval,let'ssaythatthepossiblenumbersarrivingis
either,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,and7orgreater.Aresultsofsuchanexperimentwouldlooksomething
likethis:
ThePr[x]orP(x)orfrequencyofxisthecellfrequencydividedbytotalnumberofobservation.
FrequencyDistributionTableisshowninTable5.1
Table5.1NumberofArrivalsProbabilityDistributionTable
NumberofArrival, Numbersof10 RelativeFrequency
x minutesInterval orProbabilityofx,
withxnumberof f/N
(1) arrivals,f
(3)=(2)/N
(2)
0 18 0.3529
1 18 0.3529
2 8 0.1569
3 3 0.0588
4 2 0.0392
5 1 0.0196
6 0 0
7ormore 1 0.0196
N=51 1
Figure5.1ProbabilityDistributionPlot.
http://www.pindling.org/Math/Statistics/Textbook/Chapter5_Discrete_Dist/discrete_dist_intro.htm 2/6
10/19/2016 Chapter5:DiscreteRandomVariables
WorkshopProblem:ProbabilityDistribution.
Findtheprobabilitydistributionofx,ifxrepresentsacodeforthesalaryrangeofemployee,
assumex=5isthelowestrangeandx=30isthehighestrange.
SalaryRange,x Numberof P(x)=f/N
Salaries,f
1 12
2 10
3 7
4 3
5 4
6 3
Total=N= 1
MeanandVarianceofRandomVariables
Themeanorexpectedvalueofarandomvariableisthesumofeachvaluesofthevariable
timesitscorrespondingprobability,p(x).
Theexpectedvalueofarandomvariableisconsidereditsmean.
1.Knowhowtodeterminethemeanorexpectedvalueofadiscreterandomvariable.
Thecomputationusedtocalculatethemeanorexpectedvalueofarandomvariableissimilarto
thatusedtofindthemeanofagroupeddata.
Theexpectedvalueofadiscreterandomvariable,X,denotedby ,istheweightedaverageof
thatvariable'spossiblevalues,wheretherespectiveprobabilitiesareusedasweights.
TheexpectedvalueisalsodenotedbyE(x).
Example:UsingexampleabovetocomputetheExpectedValueofx.
http://www.pindling.org/Math/Statistics/Textbook/Chapter5_Discrete_Dist/discrete_dist_intro.htm 3/6
10/19/2016 Chapter5:DiscreteRandomVariables
Fromworksheetbelow,theexpectedvalueis1.2353.
Numberof Numbersof Relative xPr(x)
Arrival,x 10minutes Frequencyor
Interval,f Probabilityof
(1) x,Pr(x)=f/N
(2)
(3)=(2)/N
0 18 0.3529 0
1 18 0.3529 0.3529
2 8 0.1569 0.3137
3 3 0.0588 0.1765
4 2 0.0392 0.1569
5 1 0.0196 0.098
6 0 0 0
7ormore 1 0.0196 0.1374
N=51 1 =
1.2353
2.Knowhowtocomputethevarianceandstandarddeviationfromafrequency
distribution.
Thevarianceofadiscreterandomvariableisdeterminedbythefollowingformulas,(2)Is
preferredforcomputationalease:
(1)Variance= ,whereP(x)istheprobabilityorrelativefrequencyofx.
(2)Variance=
Example:calculatethevarianceoftherandomvariableabove:
Number Numbers Relative xPr(x) x2Pr(x)
of of10 Frequency
Arrival,x minutes or
Interval,f Probability
(1) ofx,
(2) Pr(x)=f/N
(3)=(2)/N
0 18 0.3529 0 0
1 18 0.3529 0.3529 0.3529
2 8 0.1569 0.3137 0.6275
3 3 0.0588 0.1765 0.5294
http://www.pindling.org/Math/Statistics/Textbook/Chapter5_Discrete_Dist/discrete_dist_intro.htm 4/6
10/19/2016 Chapter5:DiscreteRandomVariables
Variance= =3.58821.5260=2.0622
Andstandarddeviation=
Worksheet:Usetheworksheetorfunctionsbelowtoshowtheprobabilitydistribution,mean,
varianceandstandarddeviationoftherandomvariablexbelow:
x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Frequency 23 43 50 56 45 34 24
WorksheetforComputingtheProbabilityDistribution,meanandvarianceofaDiscrete
RandomVariable,x.
Number Numbers Relative xPr(x) x2Pr(x)
of of10 Frequency
Arrival, minutes or (4) (5)=
x Interval, Probability
f ofx, (1)x(4)
(1) Pr(x)=f/N
(2)
(3)=(2)/N
N= 1 = (7) =
http://www.pindling.org/Math/Statistics/Textbook/Chapter5_Discrete_Dist/discrete_dist_intro.htm 5/6
10/19/2016 Chapter5:DiscreteRandomVariables
(6) Variance=
(8)=(5)(6)=
StandardDeviation= =
http://www.pindling.org/Math/Statistics/Textbook/Chapter5_Discrete_Dist/discrete_dist_intro.htm 6/6