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Theory of Statistics - George Mason University

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156 2 Distribution <strong>Theory</strong> and Statistical Models<br />

assume that the data-generating process giving rise to a particular set <strong>of</strong> data<br />

is in the Poisson family <strong>of</strong> distributions, and based on our methods <strong>of</strong> inference<br />

decide it is the Poisson distribution with θ = 5. (See Appendix A for how θ<br />

parameterizes the Poisson family.)<br />

A very basic distinction is the nature <strong>of</strong> the values the random variable<br />

assumes. If the set <strong>of</strong> values is countable, we call the distribution “discrete”;<br />

otherwise, we call it “continuous”.<br />

With a family <strong>of</strong> probability distributions is associated a random variable<br />

space whose properties depend on those <strong>of</strong> the family. For example, the random<br />

variable space associated with a location-scale family (defined below) is<br />

a linear space.<br />

Discrete Distributions<br />

The probability measures <strong>of</strong> discrete distributions are dominated by the counting<br />

measure.<br />

One <strong>of</strong> the simplest types <strong>of</strong> discrete distribution is the discrete uniform.<br />

In this distribution, the random variable assumes one <strong>of</strong> m distinct values<br />

with probability 1/m.<br />

Another basic discrete distribution is the Bernoulli, in which random variable<br />

takes the value 1 with probability π and the value 0 with probability<br />

1 − π. There are two common distributions that arise from the Bernoulli:<br />

the binomial, which is the sum <strong>of</strong> n iid Bernoullis, and the negative binomial,<br />

which is the number <strong>of</strong> Bernoulli trials before r 1’s are obtained. A special version<br />

<strong>of</strong> the negative binomial with r = 1 is called the geometric distribution.<br />

A generalization <strong>of</strong> the binomial to sums <strong>of</strong> multiple independent Bernoullis<br />

with different values <strong>of</strong> π is called the multinomial distribution.<br />

The random variable in the Poisson distribution takes the number <strong>of</strong> events<br />

within a finite time interval that occur independently and with constant probability<br />

in any infinitesimal period <strong>of</strong> time.<br />

A hypergeometric distribution models the number <strong>of</strong> selections <strong>of</strong> a certain<br />

type out <strong>of</strong> a given number <strong>of</strong> selections.<br />

A logarithmic distribution (also called a logarithmic series distribution)<br />

models phenomena with probabilities that fall <strong>of</strong>f logarithmically, such as<br />

first digits in decimal values representing physical measures.<br />

Continuous Distributions<br />

The probability measures <strong>of</strong> continuous distributions are dominated by the<br />

Lebesgue measure.<br />

Continuous distributions may be categorized first <strong>of</strong> all by the nature <strong>of</strong><br />

their support. The most common and a very general distribution with a finite<br />

interval as support is the beta distribution. Although we usually think <strong>of</strong><br />

the support as [0, 1], it can easily be scaled into any finite interval [a, b]. Two<br />

parameters determine the shape <strong>of</strong> the PDF. It can have a U shape, a J shape,<br />

<strong>Theory</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Statistics</strong> c○2000–2013 James E. Gentle

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