SIMULATE DATA lets you generate new data by simulating the process of sampling from a population. It also includes a visualization that demonstrates the central limit theorem.

When you use SIMULATE DATA, you will see a dialog box that asks you to select a distribution. This corresponds to the theoretical population distribution from which samples will be drawn. 

The dialog box also asks for sample size and number of samples, and whether or not you wish to visualize the sampling process. For certain distributions, an additional dialog box will ask for information needed to completely specify the sampling process.

The visualization shows the shape of the population and sample distributions as well as the distribution of sample means and standard deviations. If you ask for more than one sample, the last sample distribution is displayed along with all sample means and standard deviations. The visualization gives you the choice of generating additional samples and seeing the updated distributions of means and variances. Each time you click on the visualization's "New Sample" button ViSta generates "n" additional samples, where "n" is the number of samples specified in the dialog box.

The simulation process creates a new multivariate data object. It is represented by an icon on the workmap. 
