As a rule of thumb,a binomial distribution for which the number of trials n is large can well be approximated by a Poisson distribution when the probability of success, $\pi$ ,is:
A) larger than 0.95.
B) larger than 0.50.
C) between 0.50 and 0.95.
D) smaller than .05.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A binomial distribution can be approximated by a Poisson distribution when the number of trials is large and the probability of success is small (typically smaller than 0.05). This is because the Poisson distribution is a limit of the binomial distribution as the number of trials goes to infinity while the expected number of successes remains constant.

As a Rule of Thumb,a Binomial Distribution for Which the Number