DEFINITION OF TERMS (with examples):

1. Discrete Random Variables are variables that can take on a finite number of distinct values. In easier definition, discrete
random variable is a set of possible outcomes that is countable. Examples are the number of heads acquired while flipping a
coin three times, the number of defective chairs, the number of boys in the family, the number of students present in the
online class, and more.
2. Continuous Random Variables are random variables that take an infinitely uncountable number of potential values, regularly
measurable amounts. Often, continuous random variables represent measured data, such as height, weights, and temperature.
3. Experiment refers to a movement or activity which can be done repeatedly under similar or comparative condition.
4. Mean of discrete random variable is the weighted average of the possible values that a random variable can take.
5. The symbol of population mean is the Greek letter 𝜇.
6. Sample refers to a portion taken from the total number of subjects.
7. Parameter is the descriptive measure computed from the population.
8. The mean of discrete random variable X is a weighted average of the possible values that the random variable can take.
Unlike the sample mean of a group of observations, which gives each observation equal weight, the mean of random variable
weights each outcome X, according to its possibility, P(X).

NOTES:
1. The sum of the probabilities in a probability distribution is 1.
2. Low variance indicates that the data are close to the mean.
3. The higher the variance, the higher the variability of a distribution or the more spread a distribution is from the mean.
4. The total area under the normal curve is 1.
5. The proportion of the standard normal curve that lies within -1 and 1 standard deviation is around 68%.
x−μ̅
6. z= is used to represent standard normal variable.
σ
7. The French-born mathematician Abraham de Moivre (1667-1754) proved the first version of the Central Limit Theorem. He
used the normal distribution to approximate the distribution of the number of heads that will result when a fair coin is tossed
a large number of times. But it was Russian mathematician and physicist, Aleksander Lyapunov (1857-1918) who gave the first
rigorous proof of the general Central Limit Theorem.
8. The Central Limit Theorem states that “as the sample size becomes bigger, the sampling distribution of the sample mean can
be approximated by a normal probability distribution”.
9. Central limit theorem is applicable for a sufficiently large sample sizes (n ≥ 30). The Central Limit Theorem applies to any
population distribution, provided the sample size is sufficiently large.
10. Student’s t- distribution is the other term for t- distribution.
11. The following are the properties of t – distribution:
a. It is mound – shaped and symmetric about 0.
b. It is more variable than the standard normal distribution.
c. Its shape is dependent on the sample size n.
d. As n increases, the variability of the t – distribution decreases.
e. For large values of n, the t – distribution
12. Mean is also known as expected value.
13. Variance of discrete random variable measures how far or close the probability of events from the center or the mean or it
measures how spread the data are.
14. According to the property of the sampling distribution of sample means, Population mean is equal to the mean of the sampling
distribution.
15. Population standard deviation can at least guarantee or approximate the normality of the distribution.
16. Degrees of freedom refer to the number of independent observations in a given set of data. The number of independent
observations is sample size minus one or in symbols, that is df = n-1 where df is the degree of freedom and n is the sample size.
Hence, given a sample size of 9 will have a degree of freedom 8 and if given a degree of freedom of 14 will mean a sample size
of 15.
17. Steps in computing the mean of a discrete random variable:
a. Construct the probability distribution for the random variable X.
b. Multiply the value of the random variable X by the corresponding probability.
c. Add the results obtained in multiplying the random variable X by the corresponding probability.
18. Four-step process in finding the Areas Under the Normal Curve Given a z-value
I. Express the given z-value into a three-digit form.
II. Using the z-Table, find the first two digits on the left column.
III. Match the third digit with the appropriate column on the right.
IV. Read the area (or probability) at the intersection of the row and the column.
19. When the population standard deviation is unknown and the sample size is greater than 30, use Z. If sample size is less than 30,
use T.
COMPUTATIONS:
𝑋
1. If a probability distribution is defined by P(X) = , what are the possible values of X for it to be a probability distribution?
7
Answer: the sum of the values of x must be equal to 7 so that when you divide the sum (7) by 7 in the formula, P(x)=1.

2. Computing the mean:

3. How to compute variance and standard deviation:

To compute the Standard deviation, just get the square root of the variance. In this case, the standard deviation is 0.9288.

4. How to compute areas under the normal curve:

5. How to compute z-score:

Example: Given a standard deviation of 9, confidence interval of mean 90% and a sample size 20, what is the margin of
error or maximum allowable deviation?

=
=3.4795

7. Sample problem applying margin of error:

Since margin of error is already computed, all you need to do now is to substitute the given values to the confidence interval
formula.

NOTE: If the sample size is greater than or equal to 30, use the following formula:

Z-table will be applied in this case.