chi-square distribution

English

Noun

1. (statistics) A probability distribution widely used in inferential statistics.
• 1992, Harold R. Lindman, Analysis of Variance in Experimental Design, Springer, Softcover Reprint, page 7,
The chi-square distribution with ${\displaystyle \nu }$ degrees of freedom is defined to be the distribution of the sum of ${\displaystyle \nu }$ independent squared random variables, each having the standard normal distribution.
• 2003, Chin Long Chiang, Statistical Methods of Analysis, World Scientific Publishing, page 204,
The family of chi-square distributions, like the "Student's" t distributions, has an infinite number of members, one for each number of degrees of freedom.
• 2012, Anthony J. Hayter, Probability and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists, 4th Edition, Cengage Learning, page 254,
The degrees of freedom of a chi-square distribution are usually denoted by the Greek letter ${\displaystyle \nu }$ and can take any positive integer value.

Usage notes

The synonym central chi-square distribution is sometimes used in distinction with the more general noncentral chi-square distribution.