A Simple Dataset for Demonstrating Common Distributions

The baby boom dataset contains the time of birth, sex, and birth weight for 44 babies born in one 24-hour period at a hospital in Brisbane, Australia. The data can be used to demonstrate that some common distributions -- the normal, binomial, geometric, Poisson, and exponential -- can be used to model real situations. Because the dataset is small and easily understood, it provides a useful classroom example for discussing these distributions.