IS‘24: Distribution Practice

Procedure Identification Practice

This web page gives you practice in identifying the distribution, given the description.

Purpose

Welcome to the page that helps you determine the important characteristics of distributions. In practicing here, you will gain experience in:

parsing the description for important details
determine qualities of the random variable
determine the probability distribution that best matches the described random variable

The Random Variable

Here is the description of the random variable. Think about the description. Ask the important questions. Is this discrete or continuous? Are you describing observations or averages? Does the random variable have limitations? Get to know the random variable by answering these questions. Now that you have your answer, click on the box corresponding to your choice to see if it is the correct answer. Once you do, the explanation (and the correct answer) will show.

the number of speeding tickets given out in Galesburg per year

Since “number of” is a discrete random variable, and since we are measuring the number of successes (speeding tickets) over a time period (year), this random variable follows a Poisson distribution.

Note that we are counting the number of tickets and that each person can get 0, 1, 2, … tickets this year.

Another Example

Let’s try another example. Click “Refresh” in your browser to get another research hypothesis.

Introductory Statistics

IS: Procedure Identification Practice

Procedure Identification Practice

Purpose

The Random Variable

Another Example


	Ole J. Forsberg, PhD Associate Professor Chair of Data Sciences Office: SMC E-212 Knox College 2 East South Street Campus Box K-6 Galesburg, IL, USA, 61401-4999	Some Links Knox College of Illinois Department: Mathematics Program: Data Science Program: Statistics R for Starters Project Scarlet Elections @Knox