In biostatistics, what is the difference between random distribution and normal distribution?

Answer 1

Random distribution describes how data are generated.

Example: when a class of students takes the same test, the individual test scores come from a random distribution because things like studying, guessing, mood, etc. can change a student's test score.

Normal distribution describes the shape of the data.

Example: when the scores from many students are graphed, they often form a normal distribution (bell-shaped curve). Most students earn scores close to the average. Only a few students score very high or very low, which creates a bell-shaped curve.