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Other Distributions

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In the previous steps, we have discovered the skewness of our histogram. But, not every histogram will have a bell curve or a skewed bell curve.

In this step, we explore additional distributions that we will come across in data analysis.

Uniform Distribution

In a uniform distribution, the shape of the histogram will be rectangular. This is because the likelihood of each variable occurring is quite high. In the example below, we are counting how often days of the week occur in the year. There is the same number of Mondays as there are Wednesdays or Sundays. There might be a very small discrepancy because there could be 51 or 53 occurrences of one day, but generally, there are always 52 occurrences of a day in a year.

Histogram graph showing uniform counts of data

Other Examples

There are 3 other common distributions that you will come across:

  • Log-Normal
  • Weibull
  • Cauchy

We won’t go into detail with these in this course, but you will get to experience them as you work with data.

Join the discussion

Besides days of the year, can you think of any other real-world examples where we might find uniform distribution data types?

Use the discussion section below and let us know your thoughts. Try to respond to at least one other post and once you’re happy with your contribution, click the Mark as Complete button to check the Step off, then you can move to the next step.

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Essential Mathematics for Data Analysis in Microsoft Excel

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