Quantitative Analysis for Management, 13/e

2.5 Probability Distributions

Earlier we discussed the probability values of an event. We now explore the properties of probability distributions. We see how popular distributions, such as the normal, Poisson, binomial, and exponential probability distributions, can save us time and effort. Since a random variable may be discrete or continuous, we consider discrete probability distributions and continuous probability distributions seperately.

Probability Distribution of a Discrete Random Variable

When we have a discrete random variable, there is a probability value assigned to each event. These values must be between 0 and 1, and they must sum to 1. Let’s look at an example.

The 100 students in Pat Shannon’s statistics class have just completed ...