Normal distribution

[SASdevAnneMarie]

Hello Experts,

Could you explain me please, what does mean normal(999) function.

Which seed is better to choose for the normal function?

Thank you!

[PaigeMiller]

the NORMAL function is deprecated (that means it is an old function and best practice is that you should not use it any more) https://documentation.sas.com/doc/en/pgmmvacdc/9.4/lefunctionsref/p05tjojnyjll0zn1qq3xjl9aawl0.htm  The 999 was a "seed" that you could use to make the sequence of random numbers generated reproducible.

Better to use the rand('normal') function and CALL STREAMINIT() to specify a seed and make the random numbers reproducible.

[Rick_SAS]

And regarding "which seed is better", they are all equivalent in the sense that a random sample from one seed has the same statistical properties as a random sample from another seed.  I have discussed this question in the article, "How to choose a seed for generating random numbers in SAS."

[sbxkoenk]

How to choose a seed for generating random numbers in SAS?

By Rick Wicklin on The DO Loop June 1, 2017

https://blogs.sas.com/content/iml/2017/06/01/choose-seed-random-number.html

It says ( amongst others )
A seed value specifies a particular stream from a set of possible random number streams. When you specify a seed, SAS generates the same set of pseudorandom numbers every time you run the program. However, there is no intrinsic reason to prefer one stream over another. The stream for seed=12345 is just as random as the stream for the nine-digit prime number 937162211.

BR, Koen