WEEK 3
PROBLEMS INVOLVING MEAN AND VARIANCE OF A PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION
Learning Competencies:
At the end of this module, the learners should be able to;
1. Identify region under the normal curve corresponding to different
standard normal values.
2. Convert a normal random variable to a standard normal variable and
vice versa; and
3. Compute probabilities and percentiles using the standard normal
table.
The normal distribution is the most important probability distribution in
statistics because it fits many natural phenomena. For example,
heights, blood pressure, measurement error, and IQ scores follow the
normal distribution. It is also known as the Gaussian distribution and
the bell curve.
The normal distribution is a probability function that describes how the
values of a variable are distributed. It is a symmetric distribution where
most of the observations cluster around the central peak and the
probabilities for values further away from the mean taper off equally in
both directions. Extreme values in both tails of the distribution are
similarly unlikely.
The normal distribution is a probability function that
describes how the values of a variables are distributed.
The normal distribution is an example of a continuous
distribution. It also pertains to a family of bell-shaped
curves that model a number of continuous variables.
Standard Normal Distribution
Properties of the Standard Normal Distribution
1. The curve has a single peak. (unimodal)
2. Mean is equal to median is equal to mode.
3. The shape of the curve will depend on the mean and the standard
deviation.
4. The distribution has a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1.
Z-Scores
Population is a group of phenomena that have something
in common.
Sample is a smaller group of members of a population
selected to represent the population.
Parameter is a characteristic of a population
Statistics is a characteristics of a sample
Sample Statistics Population
Parameter
Mean 𝑋 µ
Standard deviation s 𝜎
Variance s2 𝜎2
Z-score reveals how many units of the standard deviation the
raw score is above or below the mean. It allows us to compare
the results to different normal distribution.
What is the importance of the z-scores? Raw scores may be
composed of large value, but large values cannot be
accommodated at the base line of the normal curve. It
transformed the scores for convenience without sacrificing
meaning associated with the raw scores.
𝑋−𝜇
𝑧= (Z – Score for population data)
𝜎
𝑋−𝑋
𝑧= (Z – Score for sample data)
𝑠
Where:
X given measurement
µ Population mean
𝜎 Population standard deviation
𝑋 Sample mean
s sample of standard deviation
Example:
Direction: State whether the z-score locates the raw score X
within a sample or within a population
X = 50, s = 5, 𝑋 = 40 answer: within sample
X = 40, 𝜎 = 8, µ = 52 answer: within a population
X = 36, s = 6, 𝑋 = 28 answer: within a sample
X = 74, s = 10, 𝑋 = 60 answer: within a sample
X = 82, 𝜎= 15, µ = 75 answer: within a population
Example:
Direction: From exercises A, state whether each raw score lies
below or above the mean
1. X = 50, s = 5, 𝑋 = 40
𝑋 − 𝑋 50 − 40 10
𝑧= = = =2
𝑠 5 5
The corresponding z-score is 2 to the right. Therefore, it is
above the mean.
Example:
2. X = 40, 𝜎 = 8, µ = 52
𝑋 − 𝜇 40 − 52 −12
𝑧= = = = −1.5
𝜎 8 8
The corresponding z-score is -1.5 to the right. Therefore, it is
below the mean.
END OF WEEK 4
THANK YOU !
