LESSON 1 AND 2

Statistics and Probability

Statistics and probability are two closely related fields in Mathematics, sometimes Combined for
academic purposes.

Probability
- Probability deals with predicting the likelihood of future events.
- It refers to chances and possibilities.

Statistics
- Statistics involves the analysis of the Frequency of past events.
- It refers to data.

UNDERSTANDING OF PROBABILITY
Probability - Probability is a field of mathematics that deals with chances
- It is a measure of the likelihood of an event occur.
Experiment - An experiment is an activity in which the results cannot be predicted with
certainty.
- Each repetition of an experiment is called a trial.
Outcome - An outcome is a result of an experiment.
Event - An event is any collection of outcomes.
- A simple event is an event with only one possible outcome.
Sample - The sample space for a given experiment is a set 5 that contains all
Space possible outcomes of the experiment.

PROBABILITY OF AN EVENT
P(Event) = n(Event)/n(Sample Space) where,
- n(Event) – number of outcomes of an event.
- n(Sample Space) – number of all possible outcomes.

LESSON 3

RANDOM VARIABLE
A random variable, also called a stochastic variable, is a true that assigns a numerical value or
characteristics to an outcome of an experiment. It is essentially a variable, usually denoted as X
or any capital letter of an alphabet because its value is not constant—it assumes different values
due to chance.

Generally, there are two categories of random variables: discrete and continuous random
variables. A discrete random variable takes on countable number of distinct values, which are
whole numbers such as 0,1,2,3,4,5,.... While a continuous random variable assumes an infinite
number of possible values including the decimals between two counting numbers. For a quick
comparison, the values of a discrete random variable are basically "counts" and those of a
continuous random variable
are “measurements.”

STEPS ON FINDING THE VALUES:

Step1:List the sample space of the experiment.
Step2:Count the number of the random variable in each outcome and assign this number to this
outcome.

LESSON 4
Probability distribution of a Discrete Random Variable
- It consists of the values of a random variable can assume and the corresponding
probabilities of the values.
- The probability distribution of a discrete random variable is sometimes called the
probability mass function.
Properties of a probability distribution
1. The probability of each values of the random variable must between or equal to 0 and 1
(0<P(X)<1).
2. The sum of probabilities of all values of the random variable must be equal to 1
(∑P(X)=1).

STEPS
1. List the sample space.
2. Count the number of the random in each outcome and assign this number to this outcome.
3. Construct the frequency distribution of the values of the random variable.
4. Construct the probability distribution of the random variable by getting the probability of
occurrence of each value of the random variable.
5. Construct the probability histogram.

The probability histogram is a bar graph that display the possible values of a discrete
Random variable on the horizontal axis and the probability of these values on the vertical axis.
LESSON 5

Finding the Mean and the Variance of a Discrete Probability Distribution

The mean (X̅ ) of a frequency distribution is obtained by using the formula:

The variance (σ2) and the standard deviation (σ) of a frequency distribution are
Computed by using the following formulas:

Mean of a Discrete Probability Distribution

The mean for a discrete random variable ,denoted as μ,may be computed similarly with the way
a weighted average for frequency distribution is computed,I,e., You take the summation of all
the products of a particular value or outcome and its corresponding probability.To find the
mean(μ) or the expected value E(X) of a discrete probability distribution ,we use the following
formula:
Variance and Standard Deviation of a Discrete Probability Distribution

The variance and standard deviation are two values that describe how scattered or spread out
the scores are from the mean value of the random variable.

The variance denoted as σ2,is determined using the formula:

The standard deviation σ is the square root of the variance ,thus,

Where μ=mean
X=value of the random variable
P(X)=the probability of the random variable
σ2=variance
σ=standard deviation

LESSON 6

APPLIED PROBLEMS INVOLVING THE MEAN AND THE VARIANCE OF A DISCRETE

PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION

The mean or expected value of a probability distribution tells the value of a

random variable that we expect to get if the experiment is done repeatedly. In other
words, if the experiment or process is repeated long enough, there is a likelihood or
chance that the average of the outcomes will begin to approach the expected value or
the mean value. The standard deviation of a probability distribution indicates how far, on the
average, is an observed value of a random variable X from its mean. The smaller the standard
deviation, the more likely that an observed value of the random variable will be
close to its mean. Use these concepts to solve problems involving the mean and the variance of
probability distribution as in the examples that follow.

REMEMBER!

1. The mean or the expected value of a probability distribution tells the value of a random
variable that is expected to be obtained if the experiment is done repeatedly.
2. The standard deviation of a probability distribution indicates how far, on the average, an
observed value of a random variable X is from its mean.
3. The smaller the standard deviation, the more likely that an observed value of the random
variable will be close to its mean.

LESSON 7

The probability distribution for a continuous random variable X is a bell-shaped curve. The curve
is a function of the random variable X and is sometimes called a probability density function or
probability distribution. The probability values under this curve enable us to make probability
statements about a random variable. Hence, it is usually used as a mathematical model in
inferential statistics.

The Normal Random Variable

A continuous random variable is considered normal when its values are distributed normally,
that is, when majority of the values are close to the expected value with only very few values
that are extremely smaller and extremely larger. For example, in a grade 11 class, observe that
the students normally have a height of 170 cm or very close to that, with only a number of
students who are extremely tall and some who are extremely short. This illustrates a normal
random variable. Other examples of normal random variables include blood pressure, scores in a
test, and weight of students belonging to the same age group.
Properties of a Normal Probability Distribution

A normal probability distribution has the following properties.

1. The normal probability distribution is bell-shaped.
2. The curve is symmetric about its mean.
3. The mean(X̅) is equal to the median(x͂),and is also equal to the mode(^X)
4. The tails of the curve flatten out indefinitely along the horizontal axis; always
approaching the axis but never touching it.
5. The area under the curve is 1 or 100%.
A Z-score is a numerical measurement that describes a value's relationship to the mean of a
group of values.