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Module 3 · Distributions · Topic 9

Comparing Distributions

When to Use Which Distribution. Binomial: fixed n independent trials with constant p. Poisson: count of events in a fixed interval with rate λ. Normal: continuous data that is symmetric and bell-shaped.

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  • Normal Approximation to Binomial (text)
  • Approximation Example (example)
  • Summary Table (tip)

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Key formulas

From the Distributions formula sheet

  • Binomial PMF: P(X = k) = C(n,k)p^k(1-p)^(n-k) - Exact probability of k successes in n independent Bernoulli trials.
  • Z-Score: z = (x - mu) / sigma - Standardizes a value by measuring standard deviations from the mean.

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