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Chapter I. Random Variables and Probability Distributions

1. Statistics is the study of data collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation. It helps understand information in various fields like news. Studying statistics determines the probability of events. 2. Probability is the likelihood of something occurring. It is calculated by considering the chances of desired outcomes versus all possible outcomes. A random variable is a numerical value from a random phenomenon. There are two types: discrete variables which are counted, and continuous variables which are measured, like height. 3. A probability distribution links outcomes of an experiment to their probabilities. It is defined differently for discrete versus continuous random variables, but both can be defined by a cumulative distribution function. For example, the probability distribution of flipping two coins counts the

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41 views2 pages

Chapter I. Random Variables and Probability Distributions

1. Statistics is the study of data collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation. It helps understand information in various fields like news. Studying statistics determines the probability of events. 2. Probability is the likelihood of something occurring. It is calculated by considering the chances of desired outcomes versus all possible outcomes. A random variable is a numerical value from a random phenomenon. There are two types: discrete variables which are counted, and continuous variables which are measured, like height. 3. A probability distribution links outcomes of an experiment to their probabilities. It is defined differently for discrete versus continuous random variables, but both can be defined by a cumulative distribution function. For example, the probability distribution of flipping two coins counts the

Uploaded by

mira
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Chapter I.

Random Variables and Probability Distributions


1.1 Illustrates a random variable (discrete and continuous)
1.2 Distinguishes between a discrete and a continuous random variable
What is Statistics?
Statistics is the study of the collection, analysis, interpretation, presentation, and organization of
data.
What is the importance of studying statistics?
Understanding statistics helps people determine the meaning of statistics in the news and other fields.
Studying statistics of data will help us determine the probability of an event to happen.
It is important to get the statistics of the data by careful mathematics and understanding. In this way,
we can then derive a correct probability.
What is Probability?
Probability is the chance that something might happen. When you calculate the probability of an
event, you look at chances of getting what you want versus all the possible things that can happen.
Probability, by word analysis, we can creatively break down the word into two: “Probable” and
“Ability”.
For example, let us say you are going to pick one black ball out of the four balls colored white, black,
red and blue. If asked, the probability of getting a black ball is 1/4.
It is used to understand how a small sample can reveal accurate information about a large population.

What is a Random Variable?


Variable is an element or data that is liable to vary or change. In order to remember this term, you
can just think of the word “vary” which means change.
The examples of variables are:
Age, business income and expenses, country of birth, capital expenditure, class grades, eye color and
vehicle.
A random variable is a variable whose value is a numerical outcome of a random phenomenon.
What are the two types of Random Variable?
The two types of a random variable are:
A Discrete Random Variable is a variable whose value is obtained by counting.
A Continuous Random Variable is a variable whose value is obtained by measuring.
Now, what is the meaning of “non-countable infinite number of values”. This means that the values
are not always whole numbers.
What are the examples of a Discrete Random Variable?

For example, can you count the number of students in a room? Yes, you can. Therefore, the “number
of students in a room” is a discrete variable.
Can you count the number of heads when you flip a coin twice? Yes, you can also do that. Therefore,
the “flipping of coins” is also a discrete variable.
What are the examples of a Continuous Random Variable?
An example of a continuous variable is height. The height of a person is not always a whole number.
The height of a person can be 5.1 ft, 5.2 ft, 5.3 ft and so on. Therefore, the height of a person can be
expressed using an infinite number of values.
1.3 Find the possible values of a random variable
1.4 Illustrates a probability distribution for a discrete random variable and its properties
What is a probability distribution?
A probability distribution is a table or an equation that links each outcome of a statistical
experiment with its probability of occurrence.
Every random variable is associated with a probability distribution.
Probability mass function is common to define a discrete random variable.
Probability distribution function is common to define a continuous random variable.
Both variables can also be defined in terms of the Cumulative distribution function.
Probability mass function of a discrete random variable X is a list of the values of X with their
associated probabilities.
Consider flipping a coin two times. Let us say, we are going to count the number of heads that we see
in two coin flips.
The probability distribution of the said experiment is shown below.

From this table, we can see that the probability of getting no head in two coin flips is 0.25, the
probability of getting one head in two coin flips is 0.50 and the probability of getting two heads in
two coin flips is 0.25.
Two Key Properties of Discrete Probability Distribution
1. The probability of each value x is a value between 0 and 1.
2. The sum of the probabilities of a value is equal to 1.

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