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Fundamentals of Statistics

Probability distributions

       
 
 

In the next two segments we provide an overview and then we discuss how a flip of a coin can be used to initiate the discussion of the statistical distribution.

Overview

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The null hypothesis

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Flipping a coin: The binomial distribution

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The multinomial distribution

We can think of the multinomial distribution as the generalization of the binomial distirbution to large groups. This is precisely the kind of statistics needed to properly calculate probability of indistinguishale particles. The multinomial distribution provides the numer of ways that N particles can occupy M different states. This is precisely the kind of statistics needed to account for entropy since the entropy is proportional the number of ways we can distribute the energy at a given fixed total energy.

Counting state populations: The multinomial distribution

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Continuous distributions

The previous ideas have already been shown to have a Guassian form in the limit of large numbers of occupied states. This limit is where we can apply the concept of a continuous distribution. Mathematically the most important function that can accurately represent a continuous distribution is the Gaussian.

Gaussian Statistics: Continuous distributions

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Confidence limits

The next appplication consistst of defining the occupied area under the Gaussian measured out to a certain width (measured by the distance from the mean, which is also the center of the distirbution

Confidence testing

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practical applications
 

Robust statistics

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Using the RLS worksheet

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Propagation of error

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Data dredging

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