distribution

Distribution is the arrangement or dissemination of something across locations, persons, or intervals. In business, it refers to the activities that move goods from producers to customers, including channels, warehouses, transportation, and inventory management. In statistics, a distribution describes how values of a random variable are distributed.

Statistical distributions can be discrete, with a probability mass function, or continuous, with a probability density function. The cumulative distribution function summarizes the probability that the variable is at most a given value. Distributions are characterized by parameters such as mean and variance, and by their shape. Common examples include the normal distribution, uniform distribution, Bernoulli, binomial, Poisson, and exponential distributions. Distributions underpin descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, and probabilistic modeling.

In geography and ecology, distribution refers to the spatial arrangement of a feature or species, indicating where it occurs and in what abundance. In a broader sense, distribution concerns the allocation of resources, products, or services within a system or market.