Why certain probability distributions do offer stochastical insight and others do not


Book: 
Theory, Research & Practice in Mathematical Education
Authors: 
Borovcnik, M. G.
Editors: 
Bell, A., Low, B., & Kilpatrick, J.
Type: 
Category: 
Pages: 
309-315
Year: 
1984
Publisher: 
Shell Centre for Mathematical Education
Place: 
Nottingham, UK
Abstract: 

Some standard probability distributions (like the binomial or Poisson) are especially attractive for teaching. They can be decomposed into smaller "moduls". These moduls are much easier to handle, a check of them could be a statistical test, but a judgement by mere reflection of the situation is also possible. It is argued that the process of decomposing into moduls and synthesizing them to the original situation enables insight into the stochastic structure of the standard situations.

The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education