Discrete uniform distribution Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-14
A discrete uniform distribution gives every element of a nonempty finite set the same probability. Write for its cardinality. A random variable with this law has support of a probability distribution and probability mass functionThe masses sum to . Conversely, if all masses equal , their sum is , so necessarily . Thus equal chances determine the whole law.[ref]
Counting now computes an event's probability: for any set of possible values,In particular, when , the answer is . The intersection matters: values outside the support of a probability distribution contribute zero. This turns a probability question into a combinatorics question, provided that equal chances are justified by the model.
For an ideal fair six-sided die, and each face has probability . The event of an even integer is , so its probability is ; the event has probability . Direct summation gives the expected value and the variance . The mean is a balance point between possible outcomes. These are exact consequences of stipulated fairness, rather than measured frequencies from physical dice.
Uniformity describes probabilities, not distances between values. For a second constructed model, stipulate equal-chance selection from . Every value has probability , despite the unequal gaps . Here , while the expected value and variance areNeither the midpoint of the extreme values, , nor a formula using only the cardinality gives these moments. For a general numerical support of a probability distribution, use its actual values:
Equal chances for unequal gaps: four masses and four equal-width sampling intervals
. Details. Choosing an item from a finite list with equal chances is a basic building block of simple random sampling. A bijection that relabels the items preserves equal probabilities, although changing numerical labels can change the expected value and variance. A function that merges labels can destroy uniformity: for the fair-die model, has masses at , since four faces map to three. Always count the original equally likely outcomes.
An indicator random variable for membership in a set has a Bernoulli distribution with parameter ; counting that event over independent repetitions gives a binomial distribution with parameters and . Equal chances among individual values need not produce equal chances among aggregated counts.[ref]
Introduction to Probability, Statistics, and Random Processes by Hossein Pishro-Nik. §3.1.5, indicator random variables and binomial variables as sums of independent Bernoulli variables

