June 2009
Beginner
500 pages
9h 40m
English
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Chapter 17. More on Probability
In This Chapter
The beta version
Pursuing Poisson
Grappling with gamma
Exponentially speaking
In the Chapter 16, I delve into probability in a semiformal way, and introduce distributions of random variables. The binomial distribution is the starting point. In this chapter, I examine additional distributions.
One of the symbols on the pages of this book (and other books in the Dummies series) lets you know that "Technical Stuff" follows. It might have been a good idea to hang that symbol above this chapter's title. So here's a small note of caution: Some mathematics follows. I put the math in to help you understand what you're doing when you work with the dialog boxes of the Excel functions I describe.
Are these functions on the esoteric side? Well ...yes. Will you ever have occasion to use them? Well ...you just might.
Beta
This one connects with the binomial distribution, which I discuss in Chapter 16. The beta distribution (not to be confused with "beta," the probability of a Type 2 error) is a sort of chameleon in the world of distributions. It takes on a wide variety of appearances, depending on the circumstances. I won't give you all the mathematics behind the beta distribution, because the full treatment involves calculus.
The connection with the binomial is this: In the binomial, the random variable x is the number of successes in N trials with p as the probability of a success. N and p are constants. In the beta distribution, the random variable x
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I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.Amir M.
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.