Can discrete data be approximated with a continuous random variable?
1 Answer
Oct 16, 2015
Yes!
Explanation:
A good example is the Binomial distribution. As long as the following condition is met:
np and n(1-p) are both greater than 5, you can use the continuous Normal distribution to approximate the Binomial.
Other discrete distributions such as the Poisson can also be approximated using the Normal.
Hope that helps