NORMAL DISTRIBUTION

(Statistics) A fundamental underpinning of statistical and econometric analysis: that if repeated samples are drawn (observed) from a population, that as the sample size grows then the observed values will centralize around a non-random value, termed the expected value. A normal distribution of observations may be pictured as a "bell-shaped" curve, with a central peak and symmetrical "tails" or either side. In a normal distribution, the (Arithmetic) Mean (the average value of all observations) is also equal to the Mode (the most frequently occurring) and the Median (the middle-most with an equal number of observations appearing below and above).