The key question about a statistic is its distribution under repeated sampling . The probability distribution calculated by considering all possible results of a specific sampling experiment and organizing them into a distribution. We may define a variable by either a procedure which determines its value or by the value itself. The former satisfies a desire for connecting facts, the latter only the desire for knowledge of facts. Independent experiments and events Independence is one of the concepts that causes most trouble in Probability and Statistics courses.
Most texts assume that the concept of independent experiments is self-evident.
Students do not understand the context in which independence is a useful property. This page was last updated on December 3, 1998.