HYPGEOMDIST(sample, n_sample, population, n_population)

The HYPGEOMDIST function calculates the hypergeometric distribution.

This is the measure of the probability of a given number of sample "successes" from a finite population, without replacement of samples and given the sample size and the number of population "successes". Each sample is defined as either a "success" or a "failure"; for example, when flipping a coin, heads might be a success and a tails a failure.

The arguments of the function represent the following:

sample

the number of successes in the sample, for which we seek the probability

n_sample

the size of the sample

population

the number of successes in the population

n_population

the size of the population

For example, a lucky dip has been organized, with 40 items in total. 35 of these are worthless trinkets; 5 are diamonds. We wish to know the probability of getting exactly 2 diamonds from a selection of 4 items.

Each diamond counts as a success. There are 40 items in total: this is the n_population. The size of the sample is 4: this is the n_sample. The number of successes, that is to say, diamonds, in the total population is 5: this is population. The number of successes in the sample, for which we seek the probability, is 2: this is the sample.

Applying the formula:

HYPGEOMDIST(2, 4, 5, 40)

returns 0.065106 as the probability.

See also:

Other statistical functions