Chapter 9. Working with probability and distributions
This chapter covers
- Computing probability distribution functions and cumulative distribution functions
- Visualizing and graphing distributions
- Combinatorics and permutations
- Generating random numbers
In chapter 8, you learned all about statistics, where you take real-world samples and measurements and try to understand them. This chapter deals with the intimately related field of probability, which approaches finding patterns in numbers and data from the opposite perspective. With probability distributions, you define models of how you expect data to behave. For example, the Gaussian or normal distribution is used to define SAT scores, ensuring that most test takers get average scores and few get very high or very low scores. The binomial distribution can forecast how many tails you’ll get if you flip a coin six times.