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Statistical Methods in Psychology-2 Assignment: DR Chhaya Gupta Assistant Professor Aibas

This document discusses the standard normal distribution and how to use it to calculate probabilities. It begins by explaining that the standard normal distribution has a mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1. It then provides tables showing the probabilities of observing values within 1, 2, or 3 standard deviations of the mean. The document uses the example of body mass index (BMI) to demonstrate how to convert a value to its corresponding z-score using the standard normal distribution and then look up the probability of observing a value below that z-score. It provides two examples, calculating the probability of BMI being below 30 and above 35 for men aged 60, to illustrate this process.

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Varuni Gupta
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43 views

Statistical Methods in Psychology-2 Assignment: DR Chhaya Gupta Assistant Professor Aibas

This document discusses the standard normal distribution and how to use it to calculate probabilities. It begins by explaining that the standard normal distribution has a mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1. It then provides tables showing the probabilities of observing values within 1, 2, or 3 standard deviations of the mean. The document uses the example of body mass index (BMI) to demonstrate how to convert a value to its corresponding z-score using the standard normal distribution and then look up the probability of observing a value below that z-score. It provides two examples, calculating the probability of BMI being below 30 and above 35 for men aged 60, to illustrate this process.

Uploaded by

Varuni Gupta
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Statistical Methods in

Psychology-2
Assignment

SUBMITTED TO-
Dr Chhaya Gupta
Assistant Professor
AIBAS
SUBMITTED BY-
Varuni Gupta
BA-4
AIBAS
A7406919037
The Standard Normal Curve
The standard normal distribution is a normal distribution with a mean of zero and
standard deviation of 1. The standard normal distribution is centered at zero and the
degree to which a given measurement deviates from the mean is given by the standard
deviation.
For the standard normal distribution, 68% of the observations lie within 1 standard
deviation of the mean; 95% lie within two standard deviation of the mean; and 99.9%
lie within 3 standard deviations of the mean. To this point, we have been using "X" to
denote the variable of interest (e.g., X=BMI, X=height, X=weight). However, when using
a standard normal distribution, we will use "Z" to refer to a variable in the context of a
standard normal distribution. After standardization, the BMI=30 discussed on the
previous page is shown below lying 0.16667 units above the mean of 0 on the standard
normal distribution on the right.

Since the area under the standard curve = 1, we can begin to more precisely define the
probabilities of specific observation. For any given Z-score we can compute the area under
the curve to the left of that Z-score. The table in the frame below shows the probabilities for
the standard normal distribution. Examine the table and note that a "Z" score of 0.0 lists a
probability of 0.50 or 50%, and a "Z" score of 1, meaning one standard deviation above the
mean, lists a probability of 0.8413 or 84%. That is because one standard deviation above and
below the mean encompasses about 68% of the area, so one standard deviation above the
mean represents half of that of 34%. So, the 50% below the mean plus the 34% above the
mean gives us 84%.
Probabilities of the Standard Normal Distribution Z
This table is organized to provide the area under the curve to the left of or less of a specified
value or "Z value". In this case, because the mean is zero and the standard deviation is 1, the
Z value is the number of standard deviation units away from the mean, and the area is the
probability of observing a value less than that particular Z value. Note also that the table
shows probabilities to two decimal places of Z. The units place and the first decimal place are
shown in the left-hand column, and the second decimal place is displayed across the top row.
But let's get back to the question about the probability that the BMI is less than 30, i.e.,
P(X<30). We can answer this question using the standard normal distribution. The figures
below show the distributions of BMI for men aged 60 and the standard normal distribution
side-by-side. 
Distribution of BMI and Standard Normal Distribution

 
The area under each curve is one but the scaling of the X axis is different. Note, however,
that the areas to the left of the dashed line are the same. The BMI distribution ranges from 11
to 47, while the standardized normal distribution, Z, ranges from -3 to 3. We want to compute
P(X < 30). To do this we can determine the Z value that corresponds to X = 30 and then use
the standard normal distribution table above to find the probability or area under the curve.
The following formula converts an X value into a Z score, also called a standardized score:

where μ is the mean and σ is the standard deviation of the variable X.


In order to compute P(X < 30) we convert the X=30 to its corresponding Z score (this is
called standardizing):
Thus, P(X < 30) = P(Z < 0.17). We can then look up the corresponding probability for this Z
score from the standard normal distribution table, which shows that P(X < 30) = P(Z < 0.17)
= 0.5675. Thus, the probability that a male aged 60 has BMI less than 30 is 56.75%.
Another Example
Using the same distribution for BMI, what is the probability that a male aged 60 has
BMI exceeding 35? In other words, what is P(X > 35)? Again we standardize:

We now go to the standard normal distribution table to look up P(Z>1) and for Z=1.00 we
find that P(Z<1.00) = 0.8413. Note, however, that the table always gives the probability that
Z is less than the specified value, i.e., it gives us P(Z<1)=0.8413.

Therefore, P(Z>1)=1-0.8413=0.1587. Interpretation: Almost 16% of men aged 60 have BMI


over 35.

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