Can two different distributions have the same value of mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis?












6














Assuming that you have two discrete population distributions.



Can they have identical values of mean ,variance, skewness and kurtosis while being different in shape visually ?



Do these four values act like a fingerprint of any distribution?










share|cite|improve this question




















  • 6




    Yes. In fact, one can construct two different discrete distributions with all moments equal, yet do not agree in distribution. Also check out this question: Two random variables with same moments.
    – Francis
    yesterday












  • You may already know this but when in such a situation where you have some statistics which reduce the space of possible distributions but do not identify a single distribution then you should generally choose the probability distribution with the maximum entropy.
    – Pace
    yesterday
















6














Assuming that you have two discrete population distributions.



Can they have identical values of mean ,variance, skewness and kurtosis while being different in shape visually ?



Do these four values act like a fingerprint of any distribution?










share|cite|improve this question




















  • 6




    Yes. In fact, one can construct two different discrete distributions with all moments equal, yet do not agree in distribution. Also check out this question: Two random variables with same moments.
    – Francis
    yesterday












  • You may already know this but when in such a situation where you have some statistics which reduce the space of possible distributions but do not identify a single distribution then you should generally choose the probability distribution with the maximum entropy.
    – Pace
    yesterday














6












6








6


2





Assuming that you have two discrete population distributions.



Can they have identical values of mean ,variance, skewness and kurtosis while being different in shape visually ?



Do these four values act like a fingerprint of any distribution?










share|cite|improve this question















Assuming that you have two discrete population distributions.



Can they have identical values of mean ,variance, skewness and kurtosis while being different in shape visually ?



Do these four values act like a fingerprint of any distribution?







descriptive-statistics skewness kurtosis






share|cite|improve this question















share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question








edited yesterday









kjetil b halvorsen

28.8k980208




28.8k980208










asked yesterday









Adurthi Ashwin Swarup

1315




1315








  • 6




    Yes. In fact, one can construct two different discrete distributions with all moments equal, yet do not agree in distribution. Also check out this question: Two random variables with same moments.
    – Francis
    yesterday












  • You may already know this but when in such a situation where you have some statistics which reduce the space of possible distributions but do not identify a single distribution then you should generally choose the probability distribution with the maximum entropy.
    – Pace
    yesterday














  • 6




    Yes. In fact, one can construct two different discrete distributions with all moments equal, yet do not agree in distribution. Also check out this question: Two random variables with same moments.
    – Francis
    yesterday












  • You may already know this but when in such a situation where you have some statistics which reduce the space of possible distributions but do not identify a single distribution then you should generally choose the probability distribution with the maximum entropy.
    – Pace
    yesterday








6




6




Yes. In fact, one can construct two different discrete distributions with all moments equal, yet do not agree in distribution. Also check out this question: Two random variables with same moments.
– Francis
yesterday






Yes. In fact, one can construct two different discrete distributions with all moments equal, yet do not agree in distribution. Also check out this question: Two random variables with same moments.
– Francis
yesterday














You may already know this but when in such a situation where you have some statistics which reduce the space of possible distributions but do not identify a single distribution then you should generally choose the probability distribution with the maximum entropy.
– Pace
yesterday




You may already know this but when in such a situation where you have some statistics which reduce the space of possible distributions but do not identify a single distribution then you should generally choose the probability distribution with the maximum entropy.
– Pace
yesterday










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















10














Take a mixture of two Normal distributions with density
$$f(x|mu_1,mu_2,sigma_1,sigma_2,omega)=
frac{omega}{sqrt{2pi}sigma_1}exp{-(x-mu_1)^2/2sigma_1^2}+
frac{1-omega}{sqrt{2pi}sigma_2}exp{-(x-mu_2)^2/2sigma_2^2}$$

This distribution has five parameters constrained by four equations
begin{align*}
mathbb{E}[X]&=omegamu_1+(1-omega)mu_2\
text{var}(X)&=omegasigma_1^2+(1-omega)sigma_2^2+omega(mu_1-mathbb{E}[X])^2+(1-omega)(mu_2-mathbb{E}[X])^2\
mathbb{E}[X^3]&=ldots\
mathbb{E}[X^4]&=ldots
end{align*}

Assuming these equations are compatible, there is therefore an infinite number of solutions $(mu_1,mu_2,sigma_1,sigma_2,omega)$.






share|cite|improve this answer























  • How come 4 equations ? Wont there be 4 equations to be solved for each distribution ? Assuming 4 eq for mean , variance , skewness and kurtosis - And is this applicable to discrete distributions as well ?
    – Adurthi Ashwin Swarup
    yesterday












  • You can use a discrete version of this mixture distribution, with no difference in the conclusion.
    – Xi'an
    yesterday



















6














Xi'an's answer proved (or at least hinted a proof) that there are different distributions with the same mean, variance, skewness and kurtosis. I just want to show an example of three visually distinct discrete distributions with the same moments (mean=skewness=0, variance=1 and kurtosis=2):



Three discrete samples with the same moments



The code to generate them is:



library(moments)

n <- 1e6

x <- c(-sqrt(2), 0, +sqrt(2))
p <- c(1,2,1)
mostra1 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

x <- c(-1.4629338416371, -0.350630832572269, 0.350630832573386, 1.46293384163564)
p <- c(1, 1.3, 1.3, 1)
mostra2 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

x <- c(-1.5049621442915, -0.457635862316285, 0.457635862316022, 1.50496214429192)
p <- c(1, 1.6, 1.6, 1)
mostra3 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

mostra <- rbind(data.frame(x=mostra1, grup="a"),
data.frame(x=mostra2, grup="b"),
data.frame(x=mostra3, grup="c"))
aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, mean)
aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, var)
aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, skewness)
aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, kurtosis)

library(ggplot2)
ggplot(mostra)+
geom_histogram(aes(x, fill=grup), bins=100)





share|cite|improve this answer





















    Your Answer





    StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
    return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
    StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
    StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
    });
    });
    }, "mathjax-editing");

    StackExchange.ready(function() {
    var channelOptions = {
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "65"
    };
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
    createEditor();
    });
    }
    else {
    createEditor();
    }
    });

    function createEditor() {
    StackExchange.prepareEditor({
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: false,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: null,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader: {
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    },
    onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    });


    }
    });














    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function () {
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fstats.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f385720%2fcan-two-different-distributions-have-the-same-value-of-mean-variance-skewness%23new-answer', 'question_page');
    }
    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes








    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    10














    Take a mixture of two Normal distributions with density
    $$f(x|mu_1,mu_2,sigma_1,sigma_2,omega)=
    frac{omega}{sqrt{2pi}sigma_1}exp{-(x-mu_1)^2/2sigma_1^2}+
    frac{1-omega}{sqrt{2pi}sigma_2}exp{-(x-mu_2)^2/2sigma_2^2}$$

    This distribution has five parameters constrained by four equations
    begin{align*}
    mathbb{E}[X]&=omegamu_1+(1-omega)mu_2\
    text{var}(X)&=omegasigma_1^2+(1-omega)sigma_2^2+omega(mu_1-mathbb{E}[X])^2+(1-omega)(mu_2-mathbb{E}[X])^2\
    mathbb{E}[X^3]&=ldots\
    mathbb{E}[X^4]&=ldots
    end{align*}

    Assuming these equations are compatible, there is therefore an infinite number of solutions $(mu_1,mu_2,sigma_1,sigma_2,omega)$.






    share|cite|improve this answer























    • How come 4 equations ? Wont there be 4 equations to be solved for each distribution ? Assuming 4 eq for mean , variance , skewness and kurtosis - And is this applicable to discrete distributions as well ?
      – Adurthi Ashwin Swarup
      yesterday












    • You can use a discrete version of this mixture distribution, with no difference in the conclusion.
      – Xi'an
      yesterday
















    10














    Take a mixture of two Normal distributions with density
    $$f(x|mu_1,mu_2,sigma_1,sigma_2,omega)=
    frac{omega}{sqrt{2pi}sigma_1}exp{-(x-mu_1)^2/2sigma_1^2}+
    frac{1-omega}{sqrt{2pi}sigma_2}exp{-(x-mu_2)^2/2sigma_2^2}$$

    This distribution has five parameters constrained by four equations
    begin{align*}
    mathbb{E}[X]&=omegamu_1+(1-omega)mu_2\
    text{var}(X)&=omegasigma_1^2+(1-omega)sigma_2^2+omega(mu_1-mathbb{E}[X])^2+(1-omega)(mu_2-mathbb{E}[X])^2\
    mathbb{E}[X^3]&=ldots\
    mathbb{E}[X^4]&=ldots
    end{align*}

    Assuming these equations are compatible, there is therefore an infinite number of solutions $(mu_1,mu_2,sigma_1,sigma_2,omega)$.






    share|cite|improve this answer























    • How come 4 equations ? Wont there be 4 equations to be solved for each distribution ? Assuming 4 eq for mean , variance , skewness and kurtosis - And is this applicable to discrete distributions as well ?
      – Adurthi Ashwin Swarup
      yesterday












    • You can use a discrete version of this mixture distribution, with no difference in the conclusion.
      – Xi'an
      yesterday














    10












    10








    10






    Take a mixture of two Normal distributions with density
    $$f(x|mu_1,mu_2,sigma_1,sigma_2,omega)=
    frac{omega}{sqrt{2pi}sigma_1}exp{-(x-mu_1)^2/2sigma_1^2}+
    frac{1-omega}{sqrt{2pi}sigma_2}exp{-(x-mu_2)^2/2sigma_2^2}$$

    This distribution has five parameters constrained by four equations
    begin{align*}
    mathbb{E}[X]&=omegamu_1+(1-omega)mu_2\
    text{var}(X)&=omegasigma_1^2+(1-omega)sigma_2^2+omega(mu_1-mathbb{E}[X])^2+(1-omega)(mu_2-mathbb{E}[X])^2\
    mathbb{E}[X^3]&=ldots\
    mathbb{E}[X^4]&=ldots
    end{align*}

    Assuming these equations are compatible, there is therefore an infinite number of solutions $(mu_1,mu_2,sigma_1,sigma_2,omega)$.






    share|cite|improve this answer














    Take a mixture of two Normal distributions with density
    $$f(x|mu_1,mu_2,sigma_1,sigma_2,omega)=
    frac{omega}{sqrt{2pi}sigma_1}exp{-(x-mu_1)^2/2sigma_1^2}+
    frac{1-omega}{sqrt{2pi}sigma_2}exp{-(x-mu_2)^2/2sigma_2^2}$$

    This distribution has five parameters constrained by four equations
    begin{align*}
    mathbb{E}[X]&=omegamu_1+(1-omega)mu_2\
    text{var}(X)&=omegasigma_1^2+(1-omega)sigma_2^2+omega(mu_1-mathbb{E}[X])^2+(1-omega)(mu_2-mathbb{E}[X])^2\
    mathbb{E}[X^3]&=ldots\
    mathbb{E}[X^4]&=ldots
    end{align*}

    Assuming these equations are compatible, there is therefore an infinite number of solutions $(mu_1,mu_2,sigma_1,sigma_2,omega)$.







    share|cite|improve this answer














    share|cite|improve this answer



    share|cite|improve this answer








    edited yesterday

























    answered yesterday









    Xi'an

    53.8k689347




    53.8k689347












    • How come 4 equations ? Wont there be 4 equations to be solved for each distribution ? Assuming 4 eq for mean , variance , skewness and kurtosis - And is this applicable to discrete distributions as well ?
      – Adurthi Ashwin Swarup
      yesterday












    • You can use a discrete version of this mixture distribution, with no difference in the conclusion.
      – Xi'an
      yesterday


















    • How come 4 equations ? Wont there be 4 equations to be solved for each distribution ? Assuming 4 eq for mean , variance , skewness and kurtosis - And is this applicable to discrete distributions as well ?
      – Adurthi Ashwin Swarup
      yesterday












    • You can use a discrete version of this mixture distribution, with no difference in the conclusion.
      – Xi'an
      yesterday
















    How come 4 equations ? Wont there be 4 equations to be solved for each distribution ? Assuming 4 eq for mean , variance , skewness and kurtosis - And is this applicable to discrete distributions as well ?
    – Adurthi Ashwin Swarup
    yesterday






    How come 4 equations ? Wont there be 4 equations to be solved for each distribution ? Assuming 4 eq for mean , variance , skewness and kurtosis - And is this applicable to discrete distributions as well ?
    – Adurthi Ashwin Swarup
    yesterday














    You can use a discrete version of this mixture distribution, with no difference in the conclusion.
    – Xi'an
    yesterday




    You can use a discrete version of this mixture distribution, with no difference in the conclusion.
    – Xi'an
    yesterday













    6














    Xi'an's answer proved (or at least hinted a proof) that there are different distributions with the same mean, variance, skewness and kurtosis. I just want to show an example of three visually distinct discrete distributions with the same moments (mean=skewness=0, variance=1 and kurtosis=2):



    Three discrete samples with the same moments



    The code to generate them is:



    library(moments)

    n <- 1e6

    x <- c(-sqrt(2), 0, +sqrt(2))
    p <- c(1,2,1)
    mostra1 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

    x <- c(-1.4629338416371, -0.350630832572269, 0.350630832573386, 1.46293384163564)
    p <- c(1, 1.3, 1.3, 1)
    mostra2 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

    x <- c(-1.5049621442915, -0.457635862316285, 0.457635862316022, 1.50496214429192)
    p <- c(1, 1.6, 1.6, 1)
    mostra3 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

    mostra <- rbind(data.frame(x=mostra1, grup="a"),
    data.frame(x=mostra2, grup="b"),
    data.frame(x=mostra3, grup="c"))
    aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, mean)
    aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, var)
    aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, skewness)
    aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, kurtosis)

    library(ggplot2)
    ggplot(mostra)+
    geom_histogram(aes(x, fill=grup), bins=100)





    share|cite|improve this answer


























      6














      Xi'an's answer proved (or at least hinted a proof) that there are different distributions with the same mean, variance, skewness and kurtosis. I just want to show an example of three visually distinct discrete distributions with the same moments (mean=skewness=0, variance=1 and kurtosis=2):



      Three discrete samples with the same moments



      The code to generate them is:



      library(moments)

      n <- 1e6

      x <- c(-sqrt(2), 0, +sqrt(2))
      p <- c(1,2,1)
      mostra1 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

      x <- c(-1.4629338416371, -0.350630832572269, 0.350630832573386, 1.46293384163564)
      p <- c(1, 1.3, 1.3, 1)
      mostra2 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

      x <- c(-1.5049621442915, -0.457635862316285, 0.457635862316022, 1.50496214429192)
      p <- c(1, 1.6, 1.6, 1)
      mostra3 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

      mostra <- rbind(data.frame(x=mostra1, grup="a"),
      data.frame(x=mostra2, grup="b"),
      data.frame(x=mostra3, grup="c"))
      aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, mean)
      aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, var)
      aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, skewness)
      aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, kurtosis)

      library(ggplot2)
      ggplot(mostra)+
      geom_histogram(aes(x, fill=grup), bins=100)





      share|cite|improve this answer
























        6












        6








        6






        Xi'an's answer proved (or at least hinted a proof) that there are different distributions with the same mean, variance, skewness and kurtosis. I just want to show an example of three visually distinct discrete distributions with the same moments (mean=skewness=0, variance=1 and kurtosis=2):



        Three discrete samples with the same moments



        The code to generate them is:



        library(moments)

        n <- 1e6

        x <- c(-sqrt(2), 0, +sqrt(2))
        p <- c(1,2,1)
        mostra1 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

        x <- c(-1.4629338416371, -0.350630832572269, 0.350630832573386, 1.46293384163564)
        p <- c(1, 1.3, 1.3, 1)
        mostra2 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

        x <- c(-1.5049621442915, -0.457635862316285, 0.457635862316022, 1.50496214429192)
        p <- c(1, 1.6, 1.6, 1)
        mostra3 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

        mostra <- rbind(data.frame(x=mostra1, grup="a"),
        data.frame(x=mostra2, grup="b"),
        data.frame(x=mostra3, grup="c"))
        aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, mean)
        aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, var)
        aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, skewness)
        aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, kurtosis)

        library(ggplot2)
        ggplot(mostra)+
        geom_histogram(aes(x, fill=grup), bins=100)





        share|cite|improve this answer












        Xi'an's answer proved (or at least hinted a proof) that there are different distributions with the same mean, variance, skewness and kurtosis. I just want to show an example of three visually distinct discrete distributions with the same moments (mean=skewness=0, variance=1 and kurtosis=2):



        Three discrete samples with the same moments



        The code to generate them is:



        library(moments)

        n <- 1e6

        x <- c(-sqrt(2), 0, +sqrt(2))
        p <- c(1,2,1)
        mostra1 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

        x <- c(-1.4629338416371, -0.350630832572269, 0.350630832573386, 1.46293384163564)
        p <- c(1, 1.3, 1.3, 1)
        mostra2 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

        x <- c(-1.5049621442915, -0.457635862316285, 0.457635862316022, 1.50496214429192)
        p <- c(1, 1.6, 1.6, 1)
        mostra3 <- sample(x, size=n, prob=p, replace=TRUE)

        mostra <- rbind(data.frame(x=mostra1, grup="a"),
        data.frame(x=mostra2, grup="b"),
        data.frame(x=mostra3, grup="c"))
        aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, mean)
        aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, var)
        aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, skewness)
        aggregate(x~grup, data=mostra, kurtosis)

        library(ggplot2)
        ggplot(mostra)+
        geom_histogram(aes(x, fill=grup), bins=100)






        share|cite|improve this answer












        share|cite|improve this answer



        share|cite|improve this answer










        answered yesterday









        Pere

        4,0391718




        4,0391718






























            draft saved

            draft discarded




















































            Thanks for contributing an answer to Cross Validated!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid



            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


            Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.





            Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.


            Please pay close attention to the following guidance:


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid



            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fstats.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f385720%2fcan-two-different-distributions-have-the-same-value-of-mean-variance-skewness%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            Popular posts from this blog

            An IMO inspired problem

            Management

            Has there ever been an instance of an active nuclear power plant within or near a war zone?