Data unit 4: probability distributions for discrete variables

probability distribution

The probabilities for all possible outcomes of an experiment or sample space, often shown as a graph of probability vs. the value of a random variable

random variable

a quantity that can have a range of values denoted by a capital letter X, with individual values designated by a lower-case x

discrete

Random variable that has a countable number of possible outcomes that can be listed

continuous

Random variable that has an uncountable number of possible outcomes

probability histogram

A graph of probability distribution

expectation

Predicted average of all possible outcomes

uniform distribution

Occurs when, in a single trial, all outcomes are equally likely

binomial distribution

A distribution with independent trials whose outcomes are either success or failure

hypergeometric distribution

A distribution with dependent trials that are either success or failure