CSE303

Lecture 4: Different Data Distributions

DATA DISTRIBUTION
 NORMAL DISTRIBUTION

• In statistics, a normal distribution or Gaussian distribution is a type of continuous

probability distribution for a real-valued random variable. The general form of
its probability density function is

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 NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
• In probability theory, the
normal (or Gaussian or
Gauss or Laplace-Gauss)
distribution is a very common
continuous probability
distribution
• The probability density of the
The Normal Distribution has:
normal distribution is •mean = median = mode
•symmetry about the center
•50% of values less than the mean
and 50% greater than the mean
PROPERTIES OF NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
 EXAMPLE 1
• 95% of students at school are between 1.1m and 1.7m tall. Assuming this data is
normally distributed can you calculate the mean and standard deviation?
 STANDARD SCORE OR “Z-SCORE”

• The number of standard deviations from the mean is also called the "Standard
Score", "sigma" or "z-score“
• Example 2: In that same school one of your friends is 1.85m tall. Find out his z-
score.
• z-score (for one sample) = (x – μ) / σ = 1.85 – 1.4 / 0.15 = 3.0
 WHY DO WE NEED Z-SCORE?

• Example 4: Professor Willoughby is marking a test. Here are the students results (out of 60
points):
20, 15, 26, 32, 18, 28, 35, 14, 26, 22, 17
Most students didn't even get 30 out of 60, and most will fail.

• Professor decides to Standardize all the scores and only fail people 1 standard deviation below
the mean.
• The Mean is 23, and the Standard Deviation is 6.6, and these are the Standard Scores:
-0.45, -1.21, 0.45, 1.36, -0.76, 0.76, 1.82, -1.36, 0.45, -0.15, -0.91
• Now only 2 students will fail (the ones who scored 15 and 14 on the test)
• Much fairer!
STANDARD NORMAL DISTRIBUTION

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 ANOTHER EXAMPLE

• Your score in a recent test was 0.5 standard deviations above the average, how many
people scored lower than you did?
NORMAL DISTRIBUTIONS

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 SKEWNESS

• It is the degree of distortion from the symmetrical bell curve or the normal
distribution. It measures the lack of symmetry in data distribution.
• It differentiates extreme values in one versus the other tail. A symmetrical
distribution will have a skewness of 0.

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 KURTOSIS

• Kurtosis is all about the tails of the distribution — not the peakedness or flatness. It is
used to describe the extreme values in one versus the other tail. It is actually the
measure of outliers present in the distribution.

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FORMULA FOR SKEWNESS AND KURTOSIS

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 BINOMIAL DISTRIBUTION

• A binomial distribution can be thought of as simply the probability of a SUCCESS or

FAILURE outcome in an experiment or survey that is repeated multiple times.
• The binomial is a type of distribution that has two possible outcomes (the prefix “bi”
means two, or twice). For example, a coin toss has only two possible outcomes: heads
or tails and taking a test could have two possible outcomes: pass or fail.
• Binomial Distribution Function: b(x; n, P) = nCx * px * (1 – p)n – x
• Mean = n * P
• Variance = n * P * (1-P)

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 PRACTICE PROBLEMS

• A coin is tossed 10 times. What is the probability of getting exactly 6 heads?

• 60% of people who purchase sports cars are men. If 10 sports car owners are
randomly selected, find the probability that exactly 7 are men.

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 POISSON DISTRIBUTION

• A Poisson distribution is a tool that helps to predict the probability of certain events
from happening when you know how often the event has occurred. It gives us the
probability of a given number of events happening in a fixed interval of time.
• Poisson Distribution Function: P(x; μ) = (e -μ * μx) / x!

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 PRACTICE PROBLEMS

• The average number of major storms in your city is 2 per year. What is the probability
that exactly 3 storms will hit your city next year?

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 CORRELATION ANALYSIS (NOMINAL DATA)

• Χ2 (chi-square) test
(Observed - Expected ) 2
c2 = å
Expected
• The larger the Χ2 value, the more likely the variables are related
• The cells that contribute the most to the Χ2 value are those
whose actual count is very different from the expected count
• Correlation does not imply causality
• # of hospitals and # of car-theft in a city are correlated
• Both are causally linked to the third variable: population

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 CHI-SQUARE CALCULATION: AN
EXAMPLE

Play chess Not play chess Sum (row)

Like science fiction 250(90) 200(360) 450

Not like science fiction 50(210) 1000(840) 1050

Sum(col.) 300 1200 1500

• Χ2 (chi-square) calculation (numbers in parenthesis are

expected counts calculated based on the data distribution
in the two categories)
(250 - 90) 2 (50 - 210) 2 (200 - 360) 2 (1000 - 840) 2
c =
2
+ + + = 507.93
90 210 360 840
• It shows that like_science_fiction and play_chess are
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correlated in the group
 PRACTICE PROBLEM

• Let's say you want to know if gender has anything to do with political party preference. You poll
440 voters in a simple random sample to find out which political party they prefer. The results
of the survey are shown in the table below:

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CHI-SQUARE TABLE

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THANK YOU

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