normal distribution curve
Save This Word!
In statistics, the theoretical curve that shows how often an experiment will produce a particular result. The curve is symmetrical and bell shaped, showing that trials will usually give a result near the average, but will occasionally deviate by large amounts. The width of the “bell” indicates how much confidence one can have in the result of an experiment — the narrower the bell, the higher the confidence. This curve is also called the Gaussian curve, after the nineteenth-century German mathematician Karl Friedrich Gauss. (See statistical significance.)
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?
notes for normal distribution curve
The normal distribution curve is often used in connection with tests in schools. Test designers often find that their results match a normal distribution curve, in which a large number of test takers do moderately well (the middle of the bell); some do worse than average, and some do better (the sloping sides of the bell); and a very small number get very high or very low scores (the rim of the bell).
Words nearby normal distribution curve
Norma, normal, normal curve, normalcy, normal distribution, normal distribution curve, normal divisor, normal equivalent deviate, normal fault, normality, normalization
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.