Definition
Distribution
A distribution shows which values occur and how often, or how probability is assigned.
Continue from this idea into connected AXIO math.
Distribution is the whole pattern: where values gather and how they spread.
Boundary: The order in which values were written is not the distribution; the values, their positions, and their frequencies create the pattern.
What it means
Look at all the values together instead of one at a time. Where do they bunch up? How far do they spread? Are there gaps or unusual values? That overall pattern is the data distribution. In probability, a distribution instead tells how likely each outcome or range is.
Remember it
Distribution is the whole pattern: where values gather and how they spread.
Example
The scores are 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, and 14. Most values cluster from 7 to 9, the spread reaches 14, and 14 sits far from the cluster. Those features describe the distribution.
Watch for
The order in which values were written is not the distribution; the values, their positions, and their frequencies create the pattern.
Common mix-up
A data distribution describes observed values. A probability distribution describes probabilities for possible outcomes.
Exact meaning
A distribution describes how observations or probability are spread across possible values or outcomes. A data distribution records values and their frequencies; a probability distribution assigns probabilities to outcomes or intervals.