9
$\begingroup$

I have some data corresponding to real number distances: {200.04053, 200.232123, 156.3242,...}, and I would like to bin these values and display them as a histogram where the heights of each bar in the histogram are normalized so that the sum of all the bin heights is equal to one. The objective here is for me to be able to use FindDistributionParameters to determine, well, appropriate distribution parameters, and then to overlay the PDF of this suggested distribution on my actual data. Is there an easy way to do this?

$\endgroup$
0

1 Answer 1

18
$\begingroup$

Add the argument "Probability" to the Histogram command. To be precise, if list is your list of data, then

Histogram[list,Automatic,"Probability"]

should do the trick. The Automatic argument specifies the bin size.

enter image description here

$\endgroup$
4
  • $\begingroup$ Why does this appear to be dwarfed by the PDF of something like an InverseGaussianDistribution? Is that simply because of the long RHS tail for my data? $\endgroup$
    – Telomer
    Apr 15, 2013 at 2:25
  • $\begingroup$ E.g. ::: Show[Histogram[DATA, Automatic, "Probability"], Plot[PDF[InverseGaussianDistribution[30.11455031212564, 17898.020946792625], x], {x, 25, 50}, Filling -> Axis, PlotRange -> All]] (I'm not claiming that this is the right distribution) $\endgroup$
    – Telomer
    Apr 15, 2013 at 2:26
  • $\begingroup$ I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by "dwarfed"? That said, I'm not a statistician, so even if I understood your question, I probably couldn't provide you with a satisfactory answer. $\endgroup$
    – Cassini
    Apr 15, 2013 at 2:34
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, I fooled myself into thinking that the bins weren't summing to one, but that's not the case. Thanks for your great answer! $\endgroup$
    – Telomer
    Apr 15, 2013 at 2:39

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.