Mean, Variance and

Standard Deviation of
a Discrete Probability
Distribution
Learning targets:

▰ Illustrate the mean and variance of a discrete random variable

▰ Calculate the mean and the variance of a discrete random variable.
▰ Interpret the mean and the variance of a discrete random variable.
▰ Solve problems involving mean and variance of probability
distributions.

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 Terminologies

MEANVARIANCE
Discrete Probability Distribution

STANDARD DEVIATION
Discrete Random Variable

3
Mean is an essential concept in mathematics and statistics. The
mean is the average or the most common value in a collection of
numbers.
In statistics, it is a measure of central tendency of a probability
distribution along median and mode. It is also referred to as an
expected value.

MEAN

4
Variance refers to the expected deviation between
values in a specific data set. It measures the
spread of each figure from the average value.
Gives an actual value to how much the numbers in
a data set vary from the mean.

VARIANCE

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From a statistics standpoint, the standard deviation of a
dataset is a measure of the magnitude of deviations between
the values of the observations contained in the dataset.
Measures how far apart numbers are in a data set

STANDARD DEVIATION

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Mean of a Discrete
Random Variable
Mean of a Discrete Random Variable

▰ The mean of a discrete random variable X is also known called the

expected value of X
▰ 𝑬(𝑿) or µ
▰ It is the weighted average of all the values that the random variable X
would assume in the long run

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Mean of a Discrete Random Variable

The mean or expected value of a discrete random variable X is computed

using the following formula

𝜇 = ෍ 𝑥 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋)

Where:
𝑋 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒
𝑥 = 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒
𝑃 𝑋 = 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑥

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 Mean of a Discrete Random Variable

Consider rolling a die. What is the average number of spots

that would appear?
Possible Outcomes Random Variable X

𝑋 = {1,2,3,4,5,6} 5

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10
Steps in Finding the Mean of a Discrete Random
Variable

▰ Construct the probability distribution for the random variable X

representing the number of spots that would appear.
▰ Multiply the value of the random variable X by the corresponding
probability.
▰ Add the results obtained in Step 2 then simplify.

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Step 1: Construct the probability distribution for the
random variable X representing the number of spots that
would appear.

Number of spots X Probability P(X)

1
1
6
1
2
6
1
3
6
1
4
6
1
5
6
1
6
6

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Step 2: Multiply the value of the random variable X by the
corresponding probability.

Number of spots X Probability P(X) 𝑥 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋)

1 1
1
6 6
1 2
2
6 6
1 3
3
6 6
1 4
4
6 6
1 5
5
6 6
1 6
6
6 6

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 Step 3: Add the results obtained in Step 2 then simplify.

Number of spots X Probability P(X) 𝑥 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋)

1 1 1 2 3 4 5 6
1
6 6 ෍ 𝑥 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋) = + + + + +
6 6 6 6 6 6
1 2
2
6 6
1 3 21
3
6 6
෍ 𝑥 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋) =
6
1 4
4
6 6
1 5 𝜇 = 3.5
5
6 6
1 6
6
6 6

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Activity 1: Finding the Mean

Find the Mean of the discrete random variable X with the following
probability distribution

Random variable X Probability P(X)

1
0
4
1
1
2
1
2
4

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 Activity 1: Finding the Mean

Answer

𝑥 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋)
1 2
Random variable X Probability P(X) ෍ 𝑥 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋) = 0 + +
1
2 4
0 0
4
1 1
1
2 2 ෍ 𝑥 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋) = 1
1 2
2
4 4
𝜇 =1

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Variance and Standard Deviation of a Discrete
Random Variable

▰ The term variance refers to a statistical measurement of the spread

between numbers in a data set. More specifically, variance measures
how far each number in the set is from the mean and thus from every
other number in the set.
▰ The larger the value of the variance, the farther are the values of X
from the mean
▰ A variance of a random variable X is denoted by 𝜎 2
▰ It can be likewise written as 𝑉𝑎𝑟(𝑋)

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Variance and Standard Deviation of a Discrete
Random Variable

The variance of X is:

𝜎 2 = ෍ 𝑥 − 𝜇 2 𝑃(𝑋)

𝑥 = 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒
𝜇 = 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛
𝑃 𝑋 = 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒

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Variance and Standard Deviation of a Discrete
Random Variable

Number of cars X Probability P(X)

The number of cars sold per day
2
at a local dealership along its 0
10
corresponding probabilities, is 1
2
10
shown in the table. Compute the 2
variance and the standard 2
10
deviation of the probability 3
2
10
distribution. 2
4
10

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Steps in Finding the Variance and Standard
Deviation of a Discrete Random Variable

▰ Find the Mean

▰ Subtract the mean from each of the random variable X.
▰ Square the results obtained in Step 2
▰ Multiply the results obtained in Step 3 by P(X)
▰ Get the sum of the results obtained in Step 4

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 Step 1: Find the Mean

Number of Cars sold Probability P(X) X ●P(X)

(X) 𝜇 = ෍ 𝑥 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋)
2 0
0 10 0 2 4 6 8
10 𝜇= + + + +
10 10 10 10 10
2 2
1 10
10 20
2 4 𝜇=
2 10
10
10
2 6 𝜇=2
3 10
10
2 8
4 10
10

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Step 2: Subtract the mean from each of the random
variable X.

Number of Cars Probability P(X) 𝒙 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) 𝒙−𝝁

sold (X)
2 0
0 10
-2
10
2 2
1 10
-1
10
2 4
2 10
0
10
2 6
3 10
1
10
2 8
4 10
2
10

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Step 3: Square the results obtained in Step 2

Number of Probability 𝒙 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) 𝒙−𝝁 𝟐

𝒙−𝝁
Cars sold (X) P(X)
2 0
0 10
-2 4
10
2 2
1 10
-1 1
10
2 4
2 10
0 0
10
2 6
3 10
1 1
10
2 8
4 10
2 4
10

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Step 4: Multiply the results obtained in Step 3 by P(X)

Number of Probability 𝒙 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) 𝒙−𝝁 𝟐

𝒙−𝝁
𝟐
Cars sold P(X) 𝒙−𝝁 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿)
(X)
2 0 8
0 10
-2 4
10 10
2 2 2
1 10
-1 1
10 10
2 4 0
2 10
0 0
10 10
2 6 2
3 10
1 1
10 10
2 8 8
4 10
2 4
10 10

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 Step 5: Get the sum of the results obtained in Step 4

Number of Probability 𝒙 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿) 𝒙−𝝁 𝟐

𝒙−𝝁
𝟐
Cars sold P(X) 𝒙−𝝁 ∙ 𝑷(𝑿)
(X) 𝜎 2 = ෍ 𝑃(𝑋) ∙ 𝑥 − 𝜇 2

2 0 8
0 -2 4 8 2 0 2 8
10 10 10 𝜎2 = + + + +
10 10 10 10 10
2 2 2
1 10
-1 1
10 10 20
2 4 0 𝜎2 = 𝑜𝑟 2
2 0 0 10
10 10 10
2 6 2
3 10
1 1
10 10
2 8 8
4 10
2 4
10 10

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Step 6: To find the standard deviation, get the square
root of the variance

𝜎 2 = ෍ 𝑃(𝑋) ∙ 𝑥 − 𝜇 2

8 2 0 2 8
𝜎2 = + + + +
10 10 10 10 10

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𝜎2 = 𝑜𝑟 2
10

𝜎= ෍ 𝑃(𝑋) ∙ 𝑥 − 𝜇 2

𝜎= 2
𝜎 = 1.41421356237

𝜎 = 1.4142
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Activity 2: Finding the variance and standard deviation

Find the variance and standard deviation of the discrete random variable
X with the following probability distribution

Random variable X Probability P(X)

1
0
4
1
1
2
1
2
4

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 Terminologies

MEANVARIANCE
Discrete Probability Distribution

STANDARD DEVIATION
Discrete Random Variable

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