
182 Bayesian Networks: With Examples in R
B.4 Continuous Distributions
The normal or Gaussian distribution plays a central role among continuous
distributions. Like the binomial distribution, it can be convenie ntly extended
into a multivariate distribution. Some indications about the estimation of the
parameters of the normal distribution are provided in Section B.2. In addition,
we also consider the beta distribution (and its multivariate version) for its close
relationship with the binomial (multinomial) discrete distribution.
B.4.1 Normal Distribution
A normal or Gaussian distribution has density
Pr(x; µ, σ
2
) =
1
√
2πσ
2
exp
−
1
2σ
2
(x − µ)
2
, x, µ ∈ R,