Wikipedia:WikiProject Probability

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The goal of WikiProject Probability is to help in the uniform development and improvement of articles related to probability theory and statistics.

The following are some suggestions about how we might organize and develop articles about probability theory. These are only suggestions, things to give you focus and to get you going, and you shouldn't feel obligated in the least to follow them. But if you don't know what to write or where to begin, following the below guidelines may be helpful. Mainly, we just want you to write articles and develop Wikipedia's coverage of the subject!

1 Scope
2 Standards
- 2.1 Standard Usage
- 2.2 Standard Layout
3 Parentage
4 Participants
5 Structure
6 Topics

[edit] Scope

This WikiProject aims primarily to organize articles in probability theory, applications and related fields. It has begun as an effort to catalogue probability articles in such a way as might facilitate learning probability from the Wikipedia, by developing an annotated 'table of contents' (see /Learn) with this end in mind. Hopefully, this WikiProject will also expose the gaps in Wikipedia's coverage of the topic, and can devote some attention to filling in those gaps.

This primary goal is distinct from that of a list of probability topics, since items on such lists are typically ordered alphabetically, and provide only the barest of guides. However, it may be useful to develop such a list in parallel with the /Learn guide.

[Since the previous paragraph was written, a comprehensive list of probability topics page has been developed by Wikipedians. It is organised by category, rather than alphabetised, but is not a guide to learning. It also includes many links to articles that are peripheral to the core of probability theory, such as articles on statistics. An effort will be made to keep the list and the guide complementary.]

An important note is that WikiProject Probability is not concerned with writing articles for an audience who is trying to learn probability theory, except as is appropriate for encyclopedic articles. Writing content with a primarily pedagogical intent is the province of Wikibooks. However, in time WikiProject Probability may develop into a project to write a Wikibook on the subject.

[edit] Standards

Probability distribution articles are generally divided into two subcategories: Category:Discrete distributions and Category:Continuous distributions. There are, however, a few which fit into neither. (See Category:Probability distributions.) The standards for an article will differ somewhat depending on the category of the distribution. The prototypical continuous distribution is the Exponential distribution and the prototypical discrete distribution is the Poisson distribution.

The following is a (hopefully developing) list of suggested standards for a probability distribution article. (See also WikiProject Mathematics.)

[edit] Standard Usage

In-line math - should be done with <math> tags. It should be done in such a way that PNG rendering is NOT forced. Non-inline math should be also done with <math> tags and should be done in such a way that PNG rendering IS forced. In some cases (e.g. fractions) it is naturally forced, but if it is not naturally forced it can be made so by appending a "\," (space) at the end of the equation. This is so that those who set their math preferences to "Always render PNG" will get as much PNG as possible, while those who prefer "HTML when possible or else PNG" will get as much HTML as possible. Those who prefer "HTML if very simple, else PNG" will get HTML inline, PNG for non-inline.

[edit] Standard Layout

Title - The title of each article will be: "XXX distribution" where "XXX" is the name of the distribution.

Template - Each article will contain a template summarizing some important aspects of the probability distribution. This template is described in Template:Probability distribution and the talk page Template talk:Probability distribution describes the standards for this template as well as the status of each article as regards this template.

Specification of the distribution - A continuous distribution is described by a CDF (cumulative distribution function) and, when possible, a PDF (probability density function) which is the derivative of the CDF. A discrete distribution is described by a CDF (cumulative distribution function) and the associated PMF (probability mass function). Each function may also be a function of any number of parameters.
- For the continuous distribution, the PDF will be written as $f (x; a, b, c,...)$ where x is the value of the random variate (a real number), and a,b,c... are the parameter values, when they exist. The CDF is written $F (x; a, b, c,...)$ .
- For the discrete distribution, the PMF will be written as $f (k; a, b, c,...)$ where $k$ is the value of the random variate (an integer or perhaps a rational number), and $a, b, c ...$ are the parameter values, when they exist. The CDF is written $F (k; a, b, c,...)$ .

[edit] Parentage

No parent of this WikiProject has yet been 'officially' defined, but see WikiProject Mathematics.

[edit] Participants

Ben Cairns
Miguel 01:44, 2004 Apr 26 (UTC)
ral315 -- I'm an amateur mathematician, freshman in college, and creator of the Math WikiPortal. Check it out sometime!
MarkSweep 02:18, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
Acuster 07:39, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Structure

Currently, the focus of this WikiProject is the annotated table of contents at /Learn. Comments and discussion directly related to should be directed to the appropriate talk page.

Please direct comments and discussion on the project itself to the talk page for the current document.