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The Normal Distribution and The Z-Score

The document explains the normal distribution and z-scores, highlighting their definitions, properties, and applications. It details how to calculate and interpret z-scores, emphasizing their utility in comparing different data sets. Additionally, it introduces the empirical rule for normal distributions and the concept of the standard normal distribution.

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eiji.x53
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8 views23 pages

The Normal Distribution and The Z-Score

The document explains the normal distribution and z-scores, highlighting their definitions, properties, and applications. It details how to calculate and interpret z-scores, emphasizing their utility in comparing different data sets. Additionally, it introduces the empirical rule for normal distributions and the concept of the standard normal distribution.

Uploaded by

eiji.x53
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Normal

Distribution and the z-


score
Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the learner should be able to:

1. recognize the normal distribution;


2. solve the z-score;
3. interpret the values that they solve;
4. know the applications of the normal distribution and the z-
score; and
5. appreciate the normal distribution and its applications.
Recall:
mean -most commonly used measure of central tendency and is often
referred to as the “average.”
median - is the middle value in a sorted, ascending or descending list of
values
mode - the value that appears the most often in a data set

.
• standard deviation - a measure of how dispersed the data is in
relation to the mean
-measures how far the score or data point is from the mean

-is the most commonly used measure of dispersion.

• measure of dispersion - help to interpret the variability of data i.e. to know


how much homogenous or heterogeneous the data is.
homogenous -alike, similar, similar
heterogenous - high variability, diverse in character or content
Dispersion of data:
What is a normal distribution?
A normal distribution is an arrangement of a data set
in which
a. most values cluster in the middle of the range
and
b. the rest taper off symmetrically toward either
the left or right extreme.
An example of a normal distribution:
The types of data that may demonstrate a normal distribution include

1. the lengths of leaves on a tree,


2. the weights of newborns in a hospital,
3. the lengths of time of a student’s trip from home to school
over a period of months,
4. the SAT scores of a large group of students,and
5. the life spans of light bulbs.
Why is it called the normal
curve/distribution?
Statisticians noticed the same shape occurring over and over
again in different distributions, when they are graphed—so
they named it the normal distribution.

Normal distributions have the following features:


1. symmetric bell shape
2. mean and median are equal; and
3. both, the mean and the median, are located at the
center of the distribution.
What is the Normal Distribution?
• The normal distribution describes a symmetrical plot of data around
its mean value, where the width of the curve is defined by the
standard deviation

• Normal distribution, also known as the Gaussian distribution, is a


probability distribution that is symmetric about the mean, showing
that data near the mean are more frequent in occurrence than data
far from the mean.
• In graphical form, the normal distribution appears as a "bell curve".
• A normal distribution forms a
bell-shaped curve that is
symmetric about a vertical line
through the mean of the data. A
graph of a normal distribution
with a mean of 5 is shown in the
figure.
Properties of a Normal
Distribution
Every normal distribution has the following properties.
a. The graph is symmetric about a vertical line through the mean of the
distribution.
b. The mean, median, and mode are equal.
c. The y-value of each point on the curve is the percent (expressed as a
decimal) of the data at the corresponding x-value.
d. Areas under the curve, that are symmetric about the mean, are
equal.
e. The total area under the curve is 1
The z-score or Standard Score
• The z-score for a given data value x is the number of
standard deviations that x is above or below the mean of the
data

• z-scores allow you to take data points drawn from


populations with different means and standard deviations
and place them on a common scale or standard scale
• enabling one to compare observations for different types of
variables that would otherwise be difficult.
Formula for getting the z-score
How to interpret the z-score:
1. z-scores are measured in standard deviation units
For example, a z-score of 1.2 shows that your observed value is 1.2
standard deviations from the mean. A z-score of 2.5 means your
observed value is 2.5 standard deviations from the mean and so on.

The closer your Z-score is to zero, the closer your value is to the mean.
The further away your Z-score is from zero, the further away your value
is from the mean.
How to interpret the z-score
2. z-scores can be positive or negative.

• A positive z-score shows that your value lies above the mean, while a
negative z-score shows that your value lies below the mean.
If your income has a Z-score of -0.8, then, your income is below
average. How far below average? 0.8 standard deviations
How to interpret the z-score
3. z-Scores allow you to compare your data easily to other metrics.

Metrics are measures of quantitative assessment commonly used for


assessing, comparing, and tracking performance or production.
10 units per month
average basketball size
• one can compare Z-scores across metrics
like height and weight,
household income and household debt levels,
resting heart rates for men versus women

* The only thing to remember is that the variables being compared


should have similar underlying distributions, like the normal
distribution
See page 64 for an Example (Raul)
Empirical Rule for a Normal
Distribution:
In a normal distribution, approximately
a. 68% of the data lie within 1 standard deviation of the mean.
b. 95% of the data lie within 2 standard deviations of the mean.
c. 99.7% of the data lie within 3 standard deviations of the mean

(please go to page 66 of the Module for an example)


The Standard Normal Distribution:
• it is also called the z-distribution
• The standard normal distribution is a special normal distribution that
has a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1.

(go to page 67 for examples)


The Standard Normal Distribution,
Areas, Percentages, and Probabilities
• In the standard normal distribution, the area of the distribution from
z = a to z = b represents
the percentage of z-values that lie in the interval from a to b.
the probability that z lies in the interval from a to b.

(please go to page 68 for examples)

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