
Chapter 9
Probability dis t ributions
The most important questions of life are, for the most part, really only
problems of probability.
—Pierre Simon Laplace
9.1 Probability distributions
This section will intro duce the notions of random variables and probability
distributions. A few classical dis tributions, including the uniform, binomial,
normal, and standard no rmal distributions will be discussed. These distribu-
tions are particularly important due to the large variety o f situations for which
they are suitable models. The discussion will focus on the general sta tis tical
reasoning as opposed to the particular characteristics of any given distribution. ...