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The Normal Distribution

Also called Gaussean Distribution.
Mean = Median = Mode.
Skewness = zero & Kurtosis =
 zero.
Total area under the curve = 1.
The Normal Distribution
The Normal Distribution, cont.

 68%  of observations lie between minus & plus
  one SD. ( -1Z & +1Z ).
 95% of observations lie between minus 1.96 &
  plus 1.96 SD units.
 99% of observations lie between minus 2.58 &
  plus 2.58 SD units.
 99.7% of observations lie between minus 3 &
  plus 3 SD units.
Confidence interval for a mean

 The  range with in which the population mean
 is likely to lie.
                        s.d.
 95% C.I. = X ± 1.96
                       √n
                       s.d.
 99% C.I. = X ± 2.58
                       √n
Confidence interval for a mean

If n ≤ 30
                s.d.
 C.I. = X ± t
                √n
Steps of testing the statistical
            hypothesis

*Assumption
   We assume that our population(s) are
  normally distributed.
*Hypothesis
   We put null hypothesis (Ho) &
alternative hypothesis (HA).
*Levels of significance (alpha)
Alpha = the probability of rejecting a true
  null hypothesis.
 Usually alpha = 0.05 or 0.01
*Degrees of freedom (d.f.): Depends on
  the type of the statistical test.
*The statistics
Depends on type of data.
*Statistical decision
Whether to reject or not to reject Ho.

*P value
Whether < or > 0.05
(or whether P < or > 0.01)
Tests of Statistical Significance

Depending  on the type of data, an
 appropriate test will be used.
Generally speaking, Data are either
 numerical or categorical data.
•   For Numerical data; we usually compute
    the mean & it’s standard deviation.


•   In order to test whether there is a
    significant difference between two means
    related to two different groups, we use
    the student (t) test.
       The t test is also used to compare
    between two sets of data within the same
    group ie. To compare between two readings
    for the same person but on two occasions,
    eg. Before & after treatment.
*To compare between several means; we
 use the analysis of variance (ANOVA, or
 called the F test); & when we have
 several numerical variables & one of
 them is dependent on the others
 (independent variables) then we use the
 multiple regression.
*In order to examine the nature & strength of
  the relationship between two variables ( e.g..
  Blood pressure & age), simple linear regression
  & correlation tests are used.
*The objective of regression analysis is to
  predict (estimate) the value of one variable
  corresponding to a given value of another
  variable.
*Correlation analysis is concerned with measuring
  the strength of the relationship between
  variables.