NORMAL DISTRIBUTION

I. Distributions
a. Normal Curve
1) The normal curve is a theoretically perfect frequency polygon in which the mean, median, and mode all coincide in the
center that takes the form of a symmetrical bell-shaped curve. Curve developed by De Moivre (French Mathematician), with
the notion that many human traits, such as intelligence, attitudes, and personality, are distributed among the population in a
fairly "normal way. For example, most of the IQ scores will fall around the mean (100), and there will be relatively few
extreme scores, such as below 55 and over 145.
2) In hypothesis testing, we consider the probability that a given difference or relationship could occur by chance alone.
Understanding the normal curve helps understand concepts underlying hypothesis testing.
3) Baseline of the normal curve is measured in standard deviation units shown by the small letter z. A score that is one
standard deviation above the mean symbolized by +1z, and -1z shows a score that is one standard deviation below the mean.
4) In a normal distribution, approximately 34% of the scores fall between the mean and one standard deviation above the
mean.
68% of the scores fall between -1z and +1z.
34% of scores fall between the mean and +1z
14% of scores fall between +1z and +2z
2% of scores fall between +2z and +3z
34% of scores fall between the mean and -1z
14% of scores fall between -1z and -2z
2% of scores fall between -2z and -3z
Example: GRE Examination is scaled to have:
a mean of 500
and a standard deviation of 100.
If 68% of the scores fall between +1z, 68% of the scores fall between 400 and 600
( -1z = 500 - 100 = 400 and + 1z = 500 + 100 = 600).
Ninety six percent of the scores fall between 300 and 700 (-2z = 500 - (2)(100) = 300 and +2z = 500 + (2)(100) = 700).
FORMULA: +1z() + = scores that fall within 68% range on the top
-1z() + = scores that fall within 68% range on the bottom

Population - parameter Sample - statistic
mean mu
x x bar
standard deviation sigma s
z score = (x - mean)/sd Z z

Approximately 68% of the observations
fall within 1 standard deviation of the
mean

Approximately 95% of the observations
fall within 2 standard deviations of the
mean

Approximately 99.7% of the
observations fall within 3 standard
deviations of the mean