Computing the Mean,

Variance and Standard

Deviation of a Discrete
Probability Distribution
 Review: Given the values of the variables X
and Y, evaluate the following summation.

𝑋1 = 4 𝑋2 = 2 𝑋3 = 5 𝑋4 = 1
𝑌1 = 2 𝑌2 = 1 𝑌3 = 0 𝑌4 = 2
1. ) σ 𝑋 2. ) σ 𝑌 3. ) σ 𝑋𝑌 4. ) σ 𝑋 + 𝑌 5. ) σ 4𝑋𝑌
Mean

–Is used to describe a set of

data as to what point the item
values or scores tend to cluster
or concentrate.
 Standard Deviation

isthe measure of the variation

of a set of data in terms of the
amounts by which individual
values differ from their mean.
The following are the scores of
students in a test. Compute the mean

Score Number of students

42 8
50 12
53 9
38 7
46 4
Activity: Number Spots:

Consider rolling a die.

What is the average
number of spot that would
appear?
 Steps in Finding the Mean of Discrete
probability Distribution

 Step 1. Construct the probability distribution

for the random variable X representing the
number of spots that would appear.
 Step 2. Multiply the value of the random
variable X by the corresponding probability.
 Step 3. Add the results obtained in step 2.
 Formula for the Mean of the Probability
Distribution

The mean of random variable with a discrete probability distribution is:

𝜇 = 𝑋1 ∙ 𝑃 𝑋1 + 𝑋2 ∙ 𝑃 𝑋2 + 𝑋3 ∙ 𝑃 𝑋3 + . . . , + 𝑋𝑛 ∙ 𝑃 𝑋𝑛
𝑜𝑟 𝜇 = ෍ 𝑋 ∙ 𝑃 𝑋

Where: 𝑋1 , 𝑋2 , 𝑋3 … . 𝑋𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑋; 𝑎𝑛𝑑

𝑃 𝑋1 , 𝑃 𝑋2 , 𝑃 𝑋3 , … , 𝑃 𝑋𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠.
 Group 1: Grocery Items:

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑦 1, 2, 3, 4, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 5 𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑛

3 1 1 2 3
𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 , , , , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦.
10 10 10 10 10
What is the average number of items that a costumer will
buy?
Group 2. Surgery Patients

The probabilities that a surgeon operates

on 3,4,5,6 or 7 patients in any day are
0.15, 0.10, 0.20, 0.25 and 0.30 respectively.
Find the average number of patients that
a surgeon operates on a day.
 Mathematical Journal

 What does the mean of probability distribution tell us?

How do you interpret the mean of a probability
distribution?
 Why is it that values of a discrete random variable
expressed in whole numbers but the mean of its
probability distribution are most of the time expressed
in decimal numbers?
Review: Compute the variance of this
frequency distribution. Complete the
table
X f 𝑋 − 𝑋ത ത 2
(𝑋 − 𝑋) ത 2
𝑓(𝑋 − 𝑋)
5 3
8 5
10 4
12 5
15 3
N = 20 ത 2=
෍ 𝑓(𝑋 − 𝑋)
The variance and standard deviation
describe the amount of spread,
dispersion, or variability of the items in a
distribution. How do you describe the
spread or dispersion in a probability
distribution?
 Formula for the Variance and Standard
Deviation of a Discrete Probability Distribution
The variance of a discrete probability distribution is given by formula:
𝝈𝟐 = ෍(𝑿 − 𝝁)𝟐 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) 𝒐𝒓 𝝈𝟐 = ෍ 𝑿𝟐 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 − 𝝁𝟐

The standard deviation of a discrete probability distribution is given by the formula

𝝈= ෍(𝑿 − 𝝁)𝟐 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) 𝒐𝒓 𝝈 = ෍ 𝑿𝟐 ∙ 𝑷 𝑿 − 𝝁𝟐

Where: X = Value of the random variable

P(X) = Probability of the random variable X
𝝁 = mean probability distribution
 STEPS IN FINDING THE VARIANCE AND
STANDARD DEVIATION

 1. Find the mean of the probability distribution.

 2. Subtract the mean from each value of the
random variable X.
 3. Square the results obtained in Step 2.
 4.Multiply the results obtained in Step 3 by the
corresponding probability.
 5. Get the sum of the results obtained in Step 4.
 Halimbawa: Number of Cars Sold

The number of cars sold per day at a local car

dealership, along with its corresponding
probabilities, is shown in the succeeding table.
Compute the variance and the standard
deviation of the probability distribution by the
following the given steps. Complete the table.
 Solution 1
No. of cars Probabili 𝑋 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋) 𝑋− 𝜇 (𝑋 − 𝜇)2 (𝑋 − 𝜇)2
sold (X) ty P(X) ∙ 𝑃(𝑋)
0 1/10
1 2/10
2 3/10
3 2/10
4 2/10
𝜎 2 = σ(𝑋 − 𝜇)2 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋) =
Solution 2
X P(X) 𝑿 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) 𝟐
𝑿 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿)
0 1/10
1 2/10
2 3/10
3 2/10
4 2/10
2 2 2
𝜎 = ෍𝑋 ∙ 𝑃 𝑋 − 𝜇 =
Group Activity
   End   