I need to explain the difference between a distribution (Normal, Chi-square, Poisson, etc.) and Dispersion (as measured by variance, standard deviation) to some students. What is the simplest explanation? Thanks in advance.
[Math] the difference between distribution and dispersion
normal distributionstatistics
Best Answer
A distribution tells you how likely certain events are, e.g., for the normal distribution (continuous) you can talk about the probability that you get a number between 3 and 7, or for a discrete distribution like the Poisson, how likely are you to get 3?
A measure of dispersion tells you, if you see many events happen, how spread out are they going to be.