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Example 6.2 from Statistics, 6.1 The Standard Normal Distribution
c. Suppose the random variables X and Y have the following normal distributions: X ~ N(5, 6) and Y ~ N(2, 1). If x = 17, then z = 2. This was previously shown. If y = 4, what is z?
Work it out on paper first. Then open the solution one step at a time, and stop as soon as you can finish on your own.
c. z = = = 2, where µ = 2 and σ = 1.
The z-score for y = 4 is z = 2. This means that four is z = 2 standard deviations to the right of the mean. Therefore, x = 17 and y = 4 are both two of their own standard deviations to the right of their respective means.
The z-score allows us to compare data that are scaled differently. To better understand the concept, suppose X ~ N(5, 6) represents weight gains for one group of people who are trying to gain weight in a six-week period and Y ~ N(2, 1) measures the same weight gain for a second group of people. A negative weight gain would be a weight loss. Since x = 17 and y = 4 are each two standard deviations to the right of their means, they represent the same, standardized weight gain relative to their means.
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