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Math Forum » Discussions » sci.math.* » sci.stat.math.independent

Topic: log normal?
Replies: 14   Last Post: Jan 1, 2013 6:17 AM

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Pavel314

Posts: 3
Registered: 2/5/10
Re: log normal?
Posted: Dec 27, 2012 9:48 PM
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On Thursday, December 27, 2012 12:00:07 AM UTC-5, RichD wrote:
> Ocasionally I come across somethign called log
>
> normal, and I wonder, what is the purpose?
>
> The normal distribution is natural, but the log of that,
>
> seems unnatural, and unintuitive.
>
>
>
> Can anyone elaborate on its use?
>
>
>
> --
>
> Rich

We frequently do analyses on the length of stay of certain groups of hospital patients. When graphed, they usually come out as a "log normal distribution"; do a google image search on that term and you'll see what it looks like. When we take the logs of the values, the distribution becomes a more normal distribution, allowing the standard statistical tests.

Paul

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