Does Marginal Normality Ensure a Bivariate Normal Distribution?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the relationship between marginal normality and joint distribution in the context of bivariate normal distributions. It is established that while two random variables being marginally normal and having normal conditional distributions does not guarantee that their joint distribution is bivariate normal, independence between the variables simplifies the situation. The participants conclude that additional conditions, such as constant conditional variances, are necessary to ensure joint normality. The complexity of the multivariate normal distribution is emphasized, particularly regarding linear combinations of the variables.

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  • Bivariate normal distribution concepts
  • Understanding of marginal and conditional distributions
  • Knowledge of independence in probability theory
  • Familiarity with linear combinations of random variables
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  • Learn about the implications of conditional variances in joint distributions
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  • #31
Hi Viraltux,

the more I think about it, it does seem the only way of keeping marginal distribution of Y normal is for the normal conditional distributions of Y for each value of X follow the bivariate normal formula, with the mean shifting slightly and keeping variance the same.
As soon as you change the variance of these conditional distributions or shift the mean in a different way, the resultant marginal distribution of Y is no longer normal which would break our condition.

do you think so?
 
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  • #32
Hey, OP, if the joint probability density function is \phi(x, y), then, how would you express the conditional probability for x, assuming Y = y_{0}?
 
  • #33
learner928 said:
Hi Viraltux,

the more I think about it, it does seem the only way of keeping marginal distribution of Y normal is for the normal conditional distributions of Y for each value of X follow the bivariate normal formula, with the mean shifting slightly and keeping variance the same.
As soon as you change the variance of these conditional distributions or shift the mean in a different way, the resultant marginal distribution of Y is no longer normal which would break our condition.

do you think so?

Maybe... or Maybe you can figure out a way to change the variance through the axis in a way that keeps the marginal normal. For instance, increasing the variance is going to create kurtosis in the marginals as we previously discussed, but how about if you increase the variance for a while and then you reduce it back in a way to amount for the increased kurtosis, would you get a normal marginal? So yeah, until I don't see a formal prove I'll keep my healthy 'I don't know' flashing :smile:
 

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