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Faculty of Social Sciences

Normal Distribution and Binomial Distribution

Normal Distribution and Binomial Distribution

Normal distribution is a method to describe continuous data having a symmetric distribution with a standard bell shape. While Binomial distribution is a way to describe the binary data distribution from a finite sample. 

Resource: The Normal Distributions (Introduction to Applied Statistics for Psychology Students – University of Saskatchewan Open Press) 

Type: Textbook chapter 
Who it’s for: Anyone looking for a fairly math-heavy (but still accessible) explanation of the Normal distribution and its use. 
Why we love it:  Sections 5.1 to 5.3 in this chapter cover the basics of the Normal distribution, and provide a helpful comparison between discrete and continuous distributions. 

Resource: Binomial Distribution (Introduction to Applied Statistics for Psychology Students – University of Saskatchewan Open Press) 

Type: Textbook chapter 
Who it’s for: Anyone looking for an explanation of the binomial distribution with a helpful applied example. 
Why we love it: This resource provides both mathematical induction and intuitive explanations to help you understand the binomial distribution. As well, the practical example helps you to begin understanding sampling theory. 

Resource: The Normal Distribution (Statistics – LibreTexts) 

Type: Textbook chapter 
Who it’s for: Anyone looking for a clear explanation of the normal distribution that involves mathematical notation and visuals. 
Why we love it: This textbook chapter explains key concepts clearly and provides exercises to refine your understanding—but perhaps most importantly it discusses the limits of normality. 

Resource:  The Normal Distribution: Crash Course Statistics #19 (CrashCourse - YouTube) 

Type: Video 
Who it’s for: Anyone looking for a fairly in-depth explanation of the Normal distribution with minimal math and in a quite compact video. 
Why we love it: This video is only 11 minutes long but packs in a lot of content. A lot of examples and visuals are employed to help explain the content. Though you may need to go back and watch the video a couple times.