6.

1:
Discrete and Continuous
Random Variables
 Section 6.1
Discrete & Continuous Random Variables
After this section, you should be able to…

✓ APPLY the concept of discrete random variables to a

variety of statistical settings
✓ CALCULATE and INTERPRET the mean (expected value) of a
discrete random variable
✓ CALCULATE and INTERPRET the standard deviation (and
variance) of a discrete random variable
✓ DESCRIBE continuous random variables
 Random
Variables
A random variable, usually
•

written as X, is a variable
whose possible values are
numerical outcomes of a
random phenomenon.
There are two types of
•

random variables, discrete

random variables and
continuous random
variables.
 Discrete Random Variables
A discrete random variable is one which may take on
•

only a countable number of distinct values such as 0, 1,

2, 3, 4,....
Discrete random variables are usually (but not
•

necessarily) counts.
Examples:
•

number of children in a family

•

the Friday night attendance at a cinema

•

the number of patients a doctor sees in one day

•

the number of defective light bulbs in a box of ten

•

the number of “heads” flipped in 3 trials

•
 Probability Distribution
The probability distribution of a discrete random variable is
a list of probabilities associated with each of its possible
values

Consider tossing a fair coin 3 times.

Define X = the number of heads obtained

X = 0: TTT
X = 1: HTT THT TTH
X = 2: HHT HTH THH
X = 3: HHH
Value 0 1 2 3
Probability 1/8 3/8 3/8 1/8
 Rolling Dice: Probability
Distribution
Roll your pair of dice 20 times, record the sum for each
trial.
 Discrete Random Variables
A discrete random variable X takes a fixed set of possible
values with gaps between. The probability distribution of a
discrete random variable X lists the values xi and their
probabilities pi:
Value: x1 x2 x3 …
Probability: p1 p2 p3 …
The probabilities pi must satisfy two requirements:
1. Every probability pi is a number between 0 and 1.
2. The sum of the probabilities is 1.
To find the probability of any event, add the probabilities pi
of the particular values xi that make up the event.
Describing the (Probability) Distribution
When analyzing discrete random variables, we’ll follow the
same strategy we used with quantitative data – describe the
shape, center (mean), and spread (standard deviation), and
identify any outliers.
 Example: Babies’ Health at Birth
Prove that the probability distribution for X is
a

legitimate.
Apgar scores of 7 or higher indicate a healthy baby.
b

What is P(X ≥ 7)?

Value: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Probability: 0.001 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.012 0.020 0.038 0.099 0.319 0.437 0.053
 Example: Babies’ Health at Birth
Prove that the probability distribution for X is
a

legitimate.
Apgar scores of 7 or higher indicate a healthy baby.
b

What is P(X ≥ 7)?

Value: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Probability: 0.001 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.012 0.020 0.038 0.099 0.319 0.437 0.053

(a) All probabilities are between 0 and 1 and the probabilities

sum to 1. This is a legitimate probability distribution.

(b) 0.099+ 0.319+ 0.437+ 0.053 = P(X ≥ 7) = .908 We’d have a

91 % chance of randomly choosing a healthy baby.
 Example: Babies’ Health at Birth
C. Describe the probability distribution.

Value: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Probability: 0.001 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.012 0.020 0.038 0.099 0.319 0.437 0.053
Mean of a Discrete Random Variable
The mean of any discrete random variable is an average of
the possible outcomes, with each outcome weighted by its
probability.

Suppose that X is a discrete random variable whose

probability distribution is
Value: x1 x2 x3 …
Probability: p1 p2 p3 …
To find the mean (expected value) of X, multiply each
possible value by its probability, then add all the products:
µ x = E(X) = x1 p1 + x 2 p2 + x 3 p3 + ...
= ∑ x i pi
Example: Apgar Scores – What’s Typical?
Consider the random variable X = Apgar Score
Compute the mean of the random variable X and interpret it in context.

Value: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Probability: 0.001 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.012 0.020 0.038 0.099 0.319 0.437 0.053

µ x = E(X) = ∑ x i pi

€
Example: Apgar Scores – What’s Typical?
Consider the random variable X = Apgar Score
Compute the mean of the random variable X and interpret it in context.

Value: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Probability: 0.001 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.012 0.020 0.038 0.099 0.319 0.437 0.053

µ x = E(X) = ∑ x i pi
= (0)(0.001) + (1)(0.006) + (2)(0.007) + ...+ (10)(0.053)
= 8.128
The mean Apgar score of a randomly selected newborn is 8.128.
This is the long-term average Agar score of many, many
€randomly chosen babies.
€
Note: The expected value does not need to be a possible value of
X or an integer! It is a long-term average over many repetitions.
 Analyzing Discrete Random
Variables on the Calculator
1. Using one-variable statistics to calculate:
2. Enter values for L1 and probabilities for L2 in
stat edit
3. Stat>Calc>1 Variable statistics> List:L1 and
FreqList: L2 >calculate
Analyzing Discrete Random
Variables on the Calculator
 Standard Deviation of a Discrete
Random Variable
The definition of the variance of a random variable is similar to the
definition of the variance for a set of quantitative data. To get the
standard deviation of a random variable, take the square root of
the variance.

Suppose that X is a discrete random variable whose

probability distribution is
Value: x1 x2 x3 …
Probability: p1 p2 p3 …
and that µX is2 the mean of X. The variance of X is
Var(X) = σ X = (x1 − µ X ) p1 + (x 2 − µ X ) p2 + (x 3 − µ X ) 2 p3 + ...
2 2

= ∑ (x i − µ X ) 2 pi
 Example: Apgar Scores – How Variable Are They?
Consider the random variable X = Apgar Score
Compute the standard deviation of the random variable X
and interpret it in context.
Value: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Probability: 0.001 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.012 0.020 0.038 0.099 0.319 0.437 0.053

σ X2 = ∑ (x i −µ X ) 2 pi
= (0 − 8.128) 2 (0.001) + (1− 8.128) 2 (0.006) + ...+ (10 − 8.128) 2 (0.053)
= 2.066 Variance

σ X = 2.066 = 1.437
The standard deviation of X is 1.437. On average, a randomly
selected baby’s Apgar score will differ from the mean 8.128 by
about 1.4 units.
 Example: Babies’ Health at Birth
C. Describe the probability distribution.
C. The left-skewed shape of the distribution suggests a randomly
selected newborn will have an Apgar score at the high end of the
scale. While the range is from 0 to 10, there is a VERY small chance
of getting a baby with a score of 5 or lower. There are no obvious
outliers. The expected value of Apgar scores for a typical baby is
8.128.
 Calculate the Mean (Expected
Value)
Value 5 6 7 8 9 10
Probability 0.08 0.12 0.30 0.22 0.20 0.08
 Continuous Random Variable
A continuous random variable is one which
•

takes an infinite number of possible values.

Continuous random variables are usually
•

measurements.
Examples:
•

height
– – – –

weight
the amount of sugar in an orange
the time required to run a mile.
 Continuous Random Variables
A continuous random variable X takes on all values in an
interval of numbers. The probability distribution of X is
described by a density curve. The probability of any
event is the area under the density curve and above the
values of X that make up the event.
Continuous Random Variables
• A continuous random variable is
not defined at specific values.
• Instead, it is defined over an
interval of value; however, you
can calculate the probability of a
range of values.
• It is very similar to z-scores and
normal distribution calculations.
Example: Young Women’s Heights
The height of young women can be defined as a continuous
random variable (Y) with a probability distribution is N(64,
2.7).
A. What is the probability that a randomly chosen young
woman has height between 68 and 70 inches?

P(68 ≤ Y ≤ 70) = ???

 Example: Young Women’s Heights
The height of young women can be defined as a continuous
random variable (Y) with a probability distribution is N(64,
2.7).
A. What is the probability that a randomly chosen young
woman has height between 68 and 70 inches?

Normalcdf (68, 70, 64, 2.7) = 0.56

There is about a 5.6% chance that a randomly chosen young

woman has a height between 68 and 70 inches.
Example: Young Women’s Heights
The height of young women can be defined as a continuous
random variable (Y) with a probability distribution is N(64,
2.7).
B. At 70 inches tall, is Mrs. Jane Doe unusually tall?
Example: Young Women’s Heights
The height of young women can be defined as a continuous
random variable (Y) with a probability distribution is N(64,
2.7).
B. At 70 inches tall, is Mrs. Jane Doe unusually tall?

Normcdf (0, 69.999999, 64, 2.7) = 0.9868

Yes, Mrs. Jane Doe is unusually tall because 98.68% of the

population is shorter than her.