Computing the Mean, Variance &
SD of Random Variables
Let us first define:
Discrete Variables - can take on only certain values and it must not be a
fraction, must be a whole number, and must be countable or have a
limit. (Example: Defective chairs produced in a factory )
Continuous Variable - can take on any value within a range of values,
determined by chance, has no limit. (Example: The average amount of
electricity consumed per household per month)
Discrete probability distribution or a Probability Mass Function -
consists of the values a random variable can assume and the
corresponding probabilities of the values.
Histogram - a graphical method for displaying the shape of a
distribution.
A random variable is….
a function that associates a real number to each element in the sample
space.
It is a variable whose values are determined by chance.
It is a discrete random variable IF
its set of possible outcomes is countable.
It is represented by countable data.
It is a continuous random variable IF
it takes on values on a continuous scale. It is not defined at specific
:
values but by an interval of values.
Properties of a Probability Distribution
The probability of each value of the random variable must be between
or equal to 0 and 1.
This sort of means the values are always fractions or decimals, or is the
number 0 or 1.
In symbol form: 0 ≤ P(X) ≤ 1
The sum of the probabilities of all values of the random variable must
be equal to 1.
When you add them together, it totals to 1.
In symbol form: ƩP(X)=1
!! Remember this !!
Number of Possible Combinations: NcR on the calculator
Possible OUTCOMES:
:
The table we will be using:
Possible Outcomes Probability
X•P(X) X-µ (X-µ)2 (X-µ)2 •P(X)
X P(X)
Mean: Variance: Standard
Deviation:
The mean (µ) is the summation of X•P(X). This means that whatever
values you have under the X•P(X) column, add them together to get
your mean.
The variance is the summation of (X-µ)2 •P(X). This means that
whatever values you have under the (X-µ)2 •P(X) column, add them
together to get your variance.
The standard deviation is the variance squared.
Example:
:
Sampling distribution of the Sample Means
:
Sampling distribution is a frequency distribution using the means
computed from all possible random samples of a specific size.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
If we can count, then the given population is finite.
If we cannot count the population, then the given population is infinite.
What does it mean to “take a sample from a distribution”?
It is essentially picking a random number based on the probabilities
described by the curve.
Properties of Sampling Distribution of the
Sample Means
equal to the population means. That is 𝜇𝑥 = 𝜇.
1. The mean of the sampling distribution of the sample means is
2. .The variance of the sampling distribution of the sample means
is given by:
3. The standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the
sample means is just the SQUARE ROOT of its variance.
It is also known as the standard error of the mean.
It measures the degree of accuracy of the sample mean as an estimate
of the population mean
:
Solving with the Short Method:
Central limit theorem “Even if you’re not
normal, the average is normal!”
In this theorem,
Means are normally distributed.
Even if the data is exponentially distributed, the mean is not
exponentially distributed. It is always normal.
As long as the sample size of n is large, you will always get a normally
:
distributed mean.
Essentially, no matter what type of distribution you take data from, the
means are normally distributed.
NOTE: for this to work, you need to be able to calculate a mean from
your sample in the first place.
Normal Distribution
It is also referred to as the “normal” or “Gaussian distribution.
Also referred to as a “bell shaped curve” because it looks like a bell and
is symmetrical.
The y-axis represents the relative probability of observing if something
is most or least likely to occur. (ex. In the image, it is shown how likely
or less likely it is to find someone who is short, tall, or average height.)
The look of the curve is heavily influenced by the standard deviation.
Normal curves are drawn in a way that 95% of the measurements fall
between +2 or -2 standard deviations around the mean.
The average is where the center of the curve goes. The standard
deviation is what tells you how wide the curve goes.
The wider the curve, the shorter. The narrower the curve, the taller.
The 6 Properties of Normal Distribution,
:
Summarized
I use this mnemonic to remember: BADAAS.
Which is essentially:
1. Bell-Shaped. Pretty self explanatory
2. Averages. Mean, median, and mode are all in
the center.
3. Dispersion. The width of a curve is
determined by its standard deviation.
4. Asymptotic. The ends of the curve always
approaches the x axis, but never touches it.
It is asymptotic to the baseline.
5. Area 1. The area under the curve is 1.
:
Dummied down and in summary,
area is ALWAYS positive
:
two numbers, get both z scores and then…
- if same region, subtract
- if different region, add
“to the right, to the left…” = half region is 0.5, and then treat it the same
as if it were two numbers
Percentile
A measure of relative standing.
It is a descriptive measure of the relationship of a measurement to the
rest of the data.
Percentile divides a set of data into 100 equal parts.
Percentiles always refer to quantities below or less than the percentile
rank
NOTE: 0.99 -> 99% and etc.
Looking for percentile: Add 0.5 to the area and round to nearest
hundredths
Looking for Z-score: Minus percentile from 0.5. Nearest value to answer
is Z score
:
SUMMARIZED NOTES
SUMMARIZED formulas
:
VIDEOS YOU CAN REFERENCE FURTHER
The Normal Distribution, Clearly Explained!!!
The Central Limit Theorem, Clearly Explained!!!
:
The Main Ideas behind Probability Distributions
Sampling Distribution of Sample Mean Using Central Limit Theorem |
Statistics and Probability
Central Limit Theorem | Statistics and Probability
Problems Involving Central Limit Theorem | Statistics and Probability
Central limit theorem | Inferential statistics | Probability and Statistics |
Khan Academy
Sampling distribution of the sample mean | Probability and Statistics |
Khan Academy
Sampling distribution of the sample mean 2 | Probability and Statistics |
Khan Academy
Central Limit Theorem - Sampling Distribution of Sample Means - Stats
& Probability
Standard error of the mean | Inferential statistics | Probability and
Statistics | Khan Academy
Sampling distribution example problem | Probability and Statistics |
Khan Academy
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