What is a distribution in statistics?

When we talk about distribution in statistics, we mean probability distribution. In simple words, a distribution is a function that shows all possible values of a variable and how often they occur. Also, we can say that the probability distribution is a table or function representing the values of random variables corresponding with probabilities.

Probability Distribution

It is a mathematical function that provides the probabilities of occurrence of different possible outcomes in an experiment. In more technical terms, it describes a random phenomenon in terms of the probabilities of events. 

The probability distribution is specified in terms of an underlying sample space, where the set of all possible outcomes of the random phenomenon is being observed. It is divided into two classes.

  • Discrete Probability Distribution
  • Continuous Probability Distribution

A probability distribution whose sample space is one-dimensional is called univariate. In contrast, a distribution whose sample space is in a vector space of dimension two or more is called multivariate or a joint probability distribution. 

Importance of Probability Distribution

Probability distributions exist to model a random phenomenon, and the theory underlying the construction of these distributions are mathematically rigorous while ensuring that they are not dubious models. 

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