ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the topics that are to be found in together with some of the reasons for their inclusion. It considers the most commonly occurring discrete probability distributions are the binomial and Poisson distributions, while the most important continuous distribution is certainly the normal or Gaussian distribution. The laws governing the behaviour of random variables are the laws of probability, and they apply subject to certain hypotheses being satisfied. The probability of occurrence of an event chracterized by a point in the sample space is, of course, the probability of occurrence of the simple event it represents. Usually some simple statistical hypothesis will be in mind which involves some property of the underlying probability distribution that is involved. The probability of occurrence of an event chracterized by a point in the sample space is, of course, the probability of occurrence of the simple event it represents.
