Normal Distribution

Dr. Stang, M.Kes

Department of Biostatistics
Faculty of Public Health
Objectives
1. Introducing of The Normal Distribution
2. Characteristics of the Standard Normal
Distribution
3. Use Normal Distribution in an inferential
method
2. The Characteristics of Normal Distribution
 Symmetrical, bell-shaped curve
 Having one mode
 Total area under the curve is 1
 Mathematical formula
( X  )2
1 
f (X )  (e) 2 2

 2
Key Areas under the Curve
4. Normal Distribution Application

 How do we apply the standard normal

distribution to our data?
Z-score
If we know the population mean and
population standard deviation, for any value
of X we can compute a z-score by subtracting
the population mean and dividing the result by
the population standard deviation

X 
z

Probabilities are depicted by areas under the curve

 Total area under the curve

is 1
 The area in red is equal to
p(z > 1)
 The area in blue is equal to
p(-1< z <0)
 If the characterstics of the
normal distribution are
known, areas can be looked
up on tables or calculated
on computer.
Suppose Z has standard normal distribution
Find p(0<Z<1.23)
Find p(-1.57<Z<0)
Find p(Z>.78)
Z is standard normal
Calculate p(-1.2<Z<.78)
Example: IQ
 A common example is IQ
 IQ scores are theoretically normally
distributed.
 Mean of 100
 Standard deviation of 15
IQ’s are normally distributed with mean 100 and standard
deviation 15. Find the probability that a randomly selected
person has an IQ between 100 and 115

P(100  X  115) 
P(100  100  X  100  115  100) 
100  100 X  100 115  100
P(   
15 15 15
P(0  Z  1)  .3413
Say we have GRE scores are normally distributed with mean 500 and
standard deviation 100. Find the probability that a randomly selected
GRE score is greater than 620.

 We want to know what’s the probability of getting a

score > 620

620  500
 1.2  z
100
 p(z > 1.2)
 Result: The probability of randomly getting a score
> 620 is = 0.12
Exercises
1. What is the area for scores less than z = -1.5?
2. What is the area between z =1 and 1.5?
Exercises
3. Newborn weight average was 3,750 grams, the
standard deviation is 325 grams. If the weight
of the baby normally distributed then, define:
a. What percent of babies weighing more than
4,500 grams?.
b. How many babies weighing between 3,500
grams, and 4,500 grams, if all 10,000
babies?.