Harrison & Carter

CHAPTER 6 STATS
PART I
The random variable is a quantitative variable, the value is only random if the value that
x takes on in a given experiment or observation is a chance or random outcome.
Discrete variables are variables that have only a set number of values and is always a
whole number. Continuous is the exact opposite of discrete variables. There are an infinite
amount of values that come with continuous variables, and can be decimal values. An example
of discrete includes how many people check out a book in the library daily. This example is
discrete because .23 of a person can not check out a book. An example of continuous is
someone's height or weight. This example is continuous because your height and weight never
stop changing, and it can be any value, making it have infinite values.
Probability distribution is an assignment of probabilities to each distinct value of a
discrete random variable. In other words, the probability distribution is the likeliness of events
with countable number values. The probabilities will always add to one, an example of this is a
color wheel with five colors, when spun randomly, you have a 20% chance to land on one of the
five colors, when you add up these percents, the probability is 1, or 100%.
Mean also known as 𝜇, is the average of the data. The mean reveals in a data set the
expected number of successes in a given number of trials. Standard Deviation on the other
hand is the degree in which variables are different from the mean. Which reveals and tells us
how widely individuals in the data set vary. For probability distribution, there are a couple
different ways to find the mean and standard deviation. The mean can be calculated in a
binomial experiment by 𝛴xP(x)=𝜇. The formula for standard deviation is √𝛴(x-𝜇)^2(x).
A binomial experiment is a statistical experiment that requires a fixed # of trials, the trials
must be independent and repeated identically, there must be only 2 outcomes, success and
failure, for each trial the probability of success is the same, and you must find the probability of r
successes out of n trials. In a binomial experiment, n represents the number of trials, p
represents the probability of success, q represents the probability of failure, and r is the number
of successes.
There are several methods for calculating binomial distribution. For instance, there is a
𝑛!
formula of 𝑃(𝑟) = 𝑟!(𝑛−𝑟)! ⋅ 𝑝𝑟 ⋅ 𝑞 (𝑛−𝑟) , if the equation is less than 20 trials the chart in the back of
the statistics book has all the probabilities calculated, and there is also your calculator to
calculate the binomial distribution.
For binomial distributions, mean can be calculated by number of trials multiplied by
probability of success, giving the expected number of successes. Standard deviation is
calculated by the square root of number of trials multiplied with probability of success multiplied
with probability of failure, or √npq.

PART II
 According to surveys, only 67% of people can snap their fingers. In a staff of 16 teachers, what is the probabil
fingers? What is the probability that less than half can snap their fingers?

This experiment is binomial because you can use all the methods to obtain the values,
and there are two results.
For this problem, we intend to use the distribution table in the back of the book to
calculate the probability of snapping fingers. Since the table in the back of the book only ends in
.5%, .67% will be a little off the exact numbers, but rounding down will give a very close
estimate of the answer we are looking for. First, you will go to the back of the book and find the
section of the table where n=16. Once there, under the column of .65, go down to r=12, and find
the decimal percentage listed. In this case, the answer is roughly .16, or 16%. This means that
there is a probability of 16% that 12 of the 16 teachers/staff will be able to snap their fingers. To
find the probability that less than half can snap their fingers, we go to r=7 under .65 and round
up, giving us a percent of 6.7% after adding up all the decimals. This means that there is close
to a 6.7% chance of less than half the teachers being able to snap their fingers.
To solve this problem, we chose to use this method because it is very efficient and
quick, we both also forgot how to calculate the answer within the calculator, so we chose to use
the p=.65 part and round up slightly. This gave us relatively accurate answers and percents.