Location parameter

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In statistics, if a family of probability densities parametrized by a scalar- or vector-valued parameter μ is of the form

f_μ(x) = f(x − μ)

then μ is called a location parameter, since its value determines the "location" of the probability distribution.

In other words, when you graph the function, the location parameter determines where the origin will be located. If μ is positive, the origin will be shifted to the right, and if μ is negative, it will be shifted to the left.

[edit] See also

• equivariance
• location-scale family
• numerical parameter
• statistical dispersion
• scale parameter