Contingency Tables and Conditional Probability worksheet key

1. The following table shows the number of side effects of a drug dependent on the type of side
effect.

Number of side effects in a 10 week trial

Illness Drug 1 (B1) Drug 2 (B2) Drug 3 (B3) Total

Stomach Ache 10 30 15 55
(A1)
Cough (A2) 11 20 13 44
Headache (A3) 14 50 10 74
Total 35 100 38 173

a) If a person with a side effect is randomly selected from the study, what is the probability that
the person had a headache?

P(A3) = 74/173 = 0.43 or 43%

b) What is the probability that a randomly selected person had a stomach ache or a cough as a side
effect?
P(A1) + P(A2) = 55/173 + 44/173 = 99/173 = 0.57 or 57%
c) What is the probability of selecting someone with a cough or someone who took Drug 3?
General Rule of Addition: P(A2) + P(B3) – P(A2 and B3)
44/173 + 38/173 – 13/173 = 69/173 = 0.4 or 40%
d) Given that a person had a headache, what is the probability that a person took drug 2?
P(B2/A3) = 50/74 = 0.68 or 68%

e) What is the probability of picking a person with a headache followed by a person with a stomach
ache?

P(A3 ) X P(A1/A3) = 74/173 X 55/172 = 0.14 = 14%

f) What is the probability of selecting an employee who had a cough and took drug 2?

P(A2 and B2) = 20/173 = 0.12 or 12%

g) What is the probability of selecting an employee who had a stomach ache and took drug 1 ?
P(B1 and A1) = 10/173 = 0.06 = 6%
2. Look at the table below to answer the questions.

Gender of Employees of Different Occupations

Occupation of Male Female Total

Staff Member
Nurse 5 15 20
Physician 11 11 22
Orderly 24 30 54
Total 40 56 96

a) If a staff member is randomly selected from the study, what is the probability that the person
was an orderly?

P(A3) = 54/96 = 0.56 or 56%

b) What is the probability that a randomly selected person is a nurse or a physician?

P(A1) + P(A2) = 20/96 + 22/96 = 42/96 = 0.44 or 44%

c) What is the probability of selecting someone who is an orderly or male?

General Rule of Addition: P(A3) + P(B1) – P(A3 and B1)
54/96 + 40/96 – 24/96 = 70/96 = 73%

d) Given that a person is a nurse what is the probability that the person is female?
P(B2/A1) = 15/20 = 75%

e) What is the probability of selecting two physicians in a row?

P(A2) X P(A2/A2) = 22/96 X 21/95 = 0.05 or 5%

f) What is the probability of selecting a person who is an orderly and a male?

P(A3 and B1) = 24/96 = 0.25 or 25%

g) What is the probability of selecting a person who is a male and an orderly?

Same as above = 0.25 or 25%

h) Draw a probability tree to check your answers showing conditional and joint probabilities.