Bernoulli Distribution

The Bernoulli distribution is a discrete probability density function, specifically giving outcomes 0 or 1.


Description

The distribution gives outcome 1 with probability p, and 0 with probability q = 1 - p. It is appropriate for modeling any binary event.

A variable distributed this way is notated like X ~ Bernoulli(p). (Sometimes shortened to 'Bern'.)

The sum of repeated and independent Bernoulli-distributed events are described by the binomial distribution.


Moments

The first moment is E[X] = p.

The variance is Var[X] = p(1 - p) = pq.


Usage

Sampling

If all frame listings have an equal probability of selection, sampling can be implemented like:

scalar p = .2 /* Probability of selection */
set seed 123456789
generate double r = runiform()
generate sampled = (r < p)

The expected number of cases sampled is np; the sample size is described by the binomial distribution.


CategoryRicottone

Statistics/BernoulliDistribution (last edited 2025-08-06 01:33:16 by DominicRicottone)