5: Discrete Probability Distributions


• 5.1: Basics of Probability Distributions
There are different types of quantitative variables, called discrete or continuous. What is the difference between discrete and continuous data? Discrete data can only take on particular values in a range. Continuous data can take on any value in a range. Discrete data usually arises from counting while continuous data usually arises from measuring.
• 5.2: Binomial Probability Distribution
The focus of the section was on discrete probability distributions (pdf). To find the pdf for a situation, you usually needed to actually conduct the experiment and collect data. Then you can calculate the experimental probabilities. Normally you cannot calculate the theoretical probabilities instead. However, there are certain types of experiment that allow you to calculate the theoretical probability. One of those types is called a Binomial Experiment.
• 5.3: Mean and Standard Deviation of Binomial Distribution
If you list all possible values of x in a Binomial distribution, you get the Binomial Probability Distribution (pdf). You can draw a histogram of the pdf and find the mean, variance, and standard deviation of it.

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