true histograms have continuous baselines, which you don't have ... charts ...
dotplots ... etc. could be used for discrete data ...
now, in the old fashioned graphics ... the dotplot is easy to do BUT,
regulating what values you get on the baseline is NOT ... and where you want
them
in the newer version of dotplot ... i did that with the data shown below and, i
got good spacings and tick marks but, not all the tick marks were labelled
you want points on the baseline ... and space between the points ... here is
what a simple old fashioned histogram ... probably would do for you purposes
Histogram of C1 N = 36
Midpoint Count
1.500 6 ******
2.000 6 ******
2.500 6 ******
3.000 0
3.500 6 ******
4.000 6 ******
4.500 6 ******
At 10:02 PM 8/9/00 +0000, Sheila King wrote:
>[cross-posted to sci.stat.edu,sci.stat.math,k12.ed.math]
>
>I'm teaching a GE stat course, my first time teaching stat, and am
>having some points of confusion. Here is one of my questions:
>
>Suppose I have a probability distribution as follows:
>
>Sample space:
>1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5
>
>and each of these outcomes is equally likely. So, if my random variable
>is x, then
>P(x=1.5) = 1/6
>P(x=2) = 1/6
>and so on...
>
>To draw a probability distribution histogram, I wanted to make the bar
>for each outcome have a height of 1/6, but I became confused over this
>point:
>for x=2.0, the bar can only be on half unit wide, because of the
>neighboring outcomes 1.5 and 2.5
>(until I had encountered this particular problem, I had always made the
>bars for each outcome a width of one unit wide, with a height equal to
>P(x=that outcome) and with the outcome value centered horizontally on
>the bar).
>But it seems to me, each of the bars should have an equal width.
thing is ... a BAR represents a distance along the baseline ... but, you don't
have distance for a value .. you have a discrete point
>
>But if there are six bars (because of six outcomes) and each is only
>half a unit wide, and 1/6 of a unit tall, then the total area under the
>distribution is only 1/2 and not 1. This bothered me.
>
>But the solution manual shows the probability distribution histograms
>for this problem exactly as I have described above.
>
>Shouldn't the total area under the distribution equal one?
>
>Sheila King
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>http://www.thinkspot.net/sheila/
>http://www.k12groups.org/
>
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