Random Variables and Probability

Abstract The chapter “Random Variables and Probability” serves as both a review and a reference on probability. The random variable is the core concept in understanding probability, parameter estimation, and model selection. This chapter reviews the basic idea of a random variable and discusses the two main kinds of random variables: discrete random variables and continuous random variables. It covers the distinction between discrete and continuous random variables and outlines the most common probability mass or density functions used in ecology. Advanced sections cover distributions such as the gamma distribution, Student’s t-distribution, the beta distribution, the beta-binomial distribution, and zero-inflated models.