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Is there any method to identify the distribution of a given dataset?

3 messages · GreenBrower, Bert Gunter

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It's important to identify the distribution of a dataset before do analysis
and inference. Is there any method to identify the distribution of a given
dataset? For example, I want to identify a dataset belong to normal of
poisson distribution, how can I do that?
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Below. Brief summary is: You **need** to consult a statistician. You know
far too little statistics to do statistical analysis on your own.

-- Bert 


Bert Gunter
Genentech Nonclinical Biostatistics
650-467-7374

-----Original Message-----
From: r-help-bounces at r-project.org [mailto:r-help-bounces at r-project.org] On
Behalf Of GreenBrower
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 9:12 AM
To: r-help at r-project.org
Subject: [R] Is there any method to identify the distribution of a given
dataset?


It's important to identify the distribution of a dataset before do analysis
and inference.

-- Not necessarily. Indeed, often not.

 Is there any method to identify the distribution of a given
dataset?
 -- Yes. It's discrete. The question you mean to ask is : How do I choose a
suitable model for my data?

 For example, I want to identify a dataset belong to normal of
poisson distribution, how can I do that?

-- Whew! That you even ask this question is why you need to work with
someone who knows more about statistics. No insult intended. It's kind of
like me asking a biologist what's the difference between a mitochondrion and
a nucleus. If I know so little about cell biology that I must ask, I
probably need to work with someone more knowledgeable.
#
Thanks for everybody, I feel shame after I posting the above message because
I found there is a tutorial "Fitting Distributions with R" on
http://cran.ii.uib.no/ It's seems not everybody check the dataset's
distribution.
Bert Gunter wrote: