Frequently used probability distributions in biostatistics

by | Mar 4, 2023 | Research

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this module, you have learned about two of the most frequently used probability distributions in biostatistics: the binomial and normal distributions. The binomial distribution and the normal distribution are similar in several ways. In fact, under certain conditions, the normal distribution is used to approximate the binomial. For your initial post, discuss the following three questions. Provide examples of data that follow each distribution to help illustrate your points.

What are the basic differences between the two distributions?
Under what circumstances do you think it works well to approximate the binomial using the normal, considering the differences?
Under what public health or medical circumstances would it be helpful to identify the probability of an event? Provide some real-life examples.

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

Sample Solution

The binomial and normal distributions are two of the most commonly used probability distributions in biostatistics. The binomial distribution describes a situation in which there are two possible outcomes, usually referred to as “success” or “failure”. The normal distribution is an approximation of the binomial distribution when the number of trials (n) is large.

Sample Solution

The binomial and normal distributions are two of the most commonly used probability distributions in biostatistics. The binomial distribution describes a situation in which there are two possible outcomes, usually referred to as “success” or “failure”. The normal distribution is an approximation of the binomial distribution when the number of trials (n) is large.

The basic difference between these two distributions is that the binomial is discrete and has two possible outcomes – success or failure; whereas the normal distribution is continuous with infinite possibilities for any outcome. Additionally, unlike the normal distribution, the probability associated with each outcome in a binomial distribution depends on n; therefore it can be defined by its mean (μ) and variance (σ2). Under certain conditions, it works well to approximate the binomial using the normal because they both have similar properties – meaning their means μs and variances σ2s relatively close!

 

In public health and medicine, understanding probabilities can be helpful in many circumstances such as determining likelihood of diagnosis given set symptoms testing results assessing risk factors specific diseases illnesses predicting/identifying phases treatments based individual patient conditions etcetera . For example if someone shows signs flu-like symptoms then healthcare provider could use data from previous cases determine what kind virus likely causing illness guide course treatment needed so person gets back healthy soonest possible time!

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