ECO 329 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Poisson Distribution, Random Variable, Binomial Distribution
Document Summary
Random variable: a function that assigns a unique numerical value to each outcome in a sample space. Functions are called this because their values cannot be predicted with certainty before the experiment is performed. Represented by capital letters like x and y. A rule for assigning each outcome in a sample space to a unique real number. If e is an experimental outcome, and x is a real number: x(e) = x. The random variable x takes an outcome e and maps it to the number: the number x is associated with the outcome e, and is a value the random variable can take on, or assume. The type depends on the number of possible values the random variable can assume. Discrete random variable: the set of all possible values is finite, or countably infinite. Continuous random variable: the set of all possible values is an interval of numbers.
