INFERENTIAL STATISTICS (REVISION)

Random variables and

the normal probability
distribution
 The normal distribution

 It is the most prominent probability distribution

 It is often used as a first approximation to describe

real-valued random variables that tend to cluster
around a single mean 

 The "bell" shape of the normal distribution makes it

a convenient choice for modeling a large variety of
random variables encountered in practice.
 How does μ affect the shape ?
 The bell shape is symmetrical about the mean
 The mean is also the median : P(X < μ) = P(X > μ) = 50%

50%

μ = median

 It is also the point for which the curve is highest

μ = median = mode
 How does σ affect the shape ?

 the standard Small σ
deviation describes how far large σ
values lie from the mean
 It affects the concentration
of the curve

The larger the standard deviation, the less

concentrated the bell curve is, the more spread out
the curve is.
 The Empirical Rule
 Approximately 68% of the data in a bell shaped distribution is
within 1 standard deviation of the mean, or µ ± σ
 Approximately 95% of the data in a bell-shaped distribution lies
within two standard deviations of the mean, or µ ± 2σ
 Approximately 99.7% of the data in a bell-shaped distribution lies
within three standard deviations of the mean, or µ ± 3σ

95% 99.7%

μ  2σ μ  3σ
 Using the Empirical Rule

 Suppose that the variable “Math SAT scores” (noted X) is

bell-shaped with a mean of 500 and a standard deviation
of 90. Then,
 68% of all test takers scored between 410 and 590 (500 ± 90).

 95% of all test takers scored between 320 and 680 (500 ± 180)
or P(500 - 2*90 < X < 500 + 2*90) = P(320 < X < 680) =
95%

 99.7% of all test takers scored between 230 and 770 (500 ± 270)
or P(500 - 3*90 < X < 500 + 3*90) = P(230 < X < 770) = 99.7%
 The standard normal distribution:
The Z-distribution

It is the simplest normal distribution since its mean is zero and its
standard deviation is 1

We write Z the standard variable whose mean is 0 and whose st-

deviation is 1.

Because the Z- distribution is symmetrical about 0, we have :

P( Z  0)  P( Z  0)  0.50
P( Z   z0 )  P( Z  z0 ) ...

For The Z distribution, a probabilities’ table exists (the Z-table)

The Z-table will be used to compute any probability with an

ordinary normal distribution
 How can we connect our practical distribution
with the standard one in the tables?

If X is normally distributed and Z follows the standard normal

distribution, then the shape of both of them is a bell curve

To use the standard normal distribution, we have to transform

our variable X into a standardized variable

To standardize any variable X we need the standardizing formula

X 
Z


X  x
P( X  x)  P(  )  P( Z  z0 )
 