STAT AND PROB REVIEWER

1. Illustrates a random variable (discrete and continuous).

A discrete random variable is said to be a random variable X and it has a finite number of elements or
infinite but can be represented by whole numbers. These values usually arise from counts.
Example:
a. The number of voters favoring a candidate
b. The number of accidents per year at an intersection

A continuous random variable is said to be a random variable Y and it has an infinite (unaccountable)
number of elements and cannot be represented by whole numbers. Hence, values between consecutive counting
numbers could be considered such as decimals, fractions, etc. These values usually come from measurements.

Example:
a. The speed of a car
b. The amount of sugar in a cup of coffee
2. Find the possible values of a random variable, and illustrates a probability distribution for a discrete random
variable and its properties.
For example, if a coin is tossed thrice, the set of all possible outcomes (S) of the experiment is:
S = {TTT, TTH, THT, HTT, HHT, HTH, THH, HHH}
If X represents the number of heads in an experiment.
Find the following:
A. Number of outcomes where X<2
Answer: This means ,we need to count the outcomes with 1 or 0 number of heads from the sample space
HTT,THT,TTH, and TTT are the outcomes with x<2, thus, the answer is 4.
B. P(X>1)
Answer: Since there are 4 possible outcomes that will have X>1, then the probability sa 4/8 or ½

Examples of getting the probability in an experiment:

A. If you flip a coin, it will come down heads. The probability is 1/2
B. The probability of getting a red ball from an urn containing 1 red ball, 1 blue ball and 1 green ball. The
probability is 1/3
C. If a die is rolled once, what is the probability of having an even number (divisible by 2). The probability is ½

3. . Illustrates the mean and variance of a discrete random variable.

Formula for the mean of the probability distribution:

. 𝜇 = ∑[𝑋 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋)]
Formula for the variance of the probability distribution:

𝜎 2 = ∑[𝑋 2 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋)] − 𝜇2

Formula for the standard deviation of the probability distribution:

𝜎 = √∑[𝑋 2 ∙ 𝑃(𝑋)] − 𝜇2

4. Illustrates a normal random variable and its characteristics.

 Characteristics of a Normal Curve

1. The curve is bell-shaped and has the highest peak at the center of the distribution.

2. The mean, median, and mode are equal and clustered at the middle of the distribution.

3. It is symmetrical about the mean that divides the curve into two equal regions.

4. The curve is continuous on both sides and it does not touch the horizontal axis. (Asymptotic to the baseline)

5. The total area under the normal curve is 1 or 100%. Thus, it represents the probability or proportion or the
percentage associated with specific sets of measurement vales.

6. The width of the curve is determined by the standard deviation of the distribution.

Example:

The results of a nationwide aptitude test in Science are normally distributed with mean 60 and standard deviation 5. What is the score
that divides the distribution such that 84% of the cases above it?

45 50 55 60 65 70 75

55 is the score that divides the distribution such that 84% of the cases above it because the are from 55 to the right
is equal to 𝟑𝟒 + 𝟑𝟒 + 𝟏𝟑. 𝟓 + 𝟐. 𝟑𝟓 + 𝟎. 𝟏𝟓 = 𝟖𝟒%
5. Converts a normal random variable to a standard normal variable and vice versa.

The formula is converting raw score/ measurements to standard value/ z- value/ z-score is:
𝑋−𝜇
𝑧=
𝜎

Example:
1. Find the corresponding standard value of X if 𝜇 = 45 , 𝜎 = 7, 𝑋 = 53.
Answer:
𝑋−𝜇 53−45 8
𝑧= = 7 = 7 = 1.14 , thus the standard value or z-value is 1.14
𝜎
 2. A supervisor has found that their 1,000 employees, on the average, complete a certain task in 11 minutes. The times
required to complete the task of filling a can with candies are approximately normally distributed with a variance of 8
minutes.
What is the standard score if an employee completes a task in 15 minutes?
Answer:
Given: 𝜇 = 11 , 𝜎 = 8, 𝑋 = 15.

𝑋−𝜇 15−11 4
𝑧= = 8 = 8 = 0.5 , thus the standard value or z-value is 0.5
𝜎
6. Illustrates random sampling.
Population the entire set of items from which you draw data for a statistical study. Denoted by capital letter 𝑵.
Sample is a smaller and more manageable representation of a larger group. A subset of a larger population that
contains characteristics of that population. Denoted by small letter 𝒏.
Random sampling is a chance sampling method.
Random sample is a set of data taken from the population in such a way that every
set has the same chance of being selected.
Parameter is a numerical value calculated by using all the data in a population.
Examples include the population mean, population variance, population standard deviation, etc
Statistic is a numerical value calculated by using only the data from a sample.
7. Defines the sampling distribution of the sample mean using the Central Limit Theorem
If random samples of size 𝑛 are drawn from a population, then as 𝑛 becomes larger, the sampling distribution of the mean
approaches the normal distribution, regardless of the shape of the population.
8. Illustrates the t-distribution

Important points:
1. T- distribution is used when 𝑛 < 30 and the population standard deviation is unknown
2. The value in a t- distribution, there is a need to consider 𝑛 and its df or degree of freedom.
3. The value of 𝑡 increases as 𝑛 increases