CONSTRUCTING PROBABILITY

DISTRIBUTIONS
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:

• Illustrate a probability distribution for a discrete random variable and

its properties;
• Compute probabilities corresponding to a given random variable; and
• Construct the probability mass function of a discrete random variable
and its corresponding histogram
LOOK BACK AND REFLECT

• How do you find the values of a random variable?

• How do you know whether a random variable is continuous or
discrete?
• What is the difference between continuous and discrete random
variables?
KEY TERMS:
STATISTICS - A science that studies data
PROBABILITY - Is a measure quantifying the likelilhood that events will occur.
Probability quantifies as a number between 0 and 1, where, roughly speaking, 0
indicates impossibility and 1 indicates certainty.
STATISTICS - A science that studies data
DATA - a collection of facts from experiments, observations,
sample surveys and censuses, and administrative reporting systems).
RANDOM VARIABLE – Is a function that associates a real number to each
element in the sample space. It is a variable whose values are determined by
chance
DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE– a random variable is a discrete random variable it
its set of possible outcomes is countable.
CONTINUOUS RANDOM VARIABLE – a random variable is a continuous random
variable it it takes on values on a continuous scale.
Qualitative variables - express a categorical attribute,
such as sex (male or female), religion, marital status,
region of residence, highest educational attainment.

Quantitative (otherwise called numerical) data,

whose sizes are meaningful, answer questions such
as “how much” or “how many”. Quantitative
variables have actual units of measure.

Discrete data are those data that can be counted, e.g., the number of days for cellphones
to fail, the ages of survey respondents measured to the nearest year, and the number of
patients in a hospital

Continuous data are those that can be measured, e.g. the exact height of a survey
respondent and the exact volume of some liquid substance. The possible values are
uncountably infinite.
Classify these variables as to qualitative or quantitative
and further more as to discrete or continuous.
VARIABLE TYPE OF VARIABLE TYPE OF QUANTITATIVE
VARIABLE
Class Student Number Qualitative
Sex Qualitative
Number of Siblings Quantitative Discrete
Weing (in kilograms) Quantitative Continuous
Height (in centimeters) Quantitative Continuous
Age of mother Quantitative Discrete
Usual Daily Allowance in School Quantitative Distcrete
Usual Daily Food Expenditure in School Quantitative Discrete
Ususal Number of Text Messages Quantitative
Usual Sleeping Time Qualitative
Most Preferred Color Qualitative
Happiness Index for the Day Qualitative
Which of the variables are qualitative? Which are quantitative?
Among the quantitative variables, classify them further as
discrete or continuous

1. highest educational attainment (qualitative)

2. • predominant hair color (qualitative)
3. • body temperature (quantitative: continuous)
4. • civil status (qualitative)
5. • brand of laundry soap being used (qualitative)
6. • total household expenditures last month in pesos (quantitative: discrete)
7. • number of children in a household (quantitative: discrete)
8. • number of hours standing in queue while waiting to be served by a bank
9. teller (quantitative: discrete)
10. time (in hours) consumed on Facebook on a particular day (quantitative: continuous)
 ENTRY CARD
A. Find the probability of the following events.
EVENT (E)
Probability P(E)
1. Getting an even number in a single roll of a die

 2. Getting a sum of 6 when two dice are rolled

3. Getting an ace when a card is drawn from a deck

4. The probability that all children are boys if a couple has three children

5. Getting an odd number and a tail when a die is rolled and coin is tossed simultaneously

6. Getting a sum of 11 when two dice are rolled

7. Getting a black card and 10 when a card is drawn from a deck

8. Getting ared queen when a card is drawn from a deck

9. Getting doubles when two dice are rolled

10. Getting a red ball from a box containing 3 red and 6 black balls
B. For the given values of x, evaluate P(x)

x   P(x) = 4x / x + 5 P(x) = 2x – 3 / x + 5

0  

1  

3  

5  

6
 ACTIVITY 1 NUMBER OF TAILS
• Suppose three coins are tossed. Let Y be the random variable representing the number of tails that occur. Find
the probability of each of the values of the random variable Y.
Steps Solution
1. Determine the sample space. Let H represent The sample space for this experiment is:
head and T represent tail. S = {TTT, TTH, THT,SHTT,
= HHT, HTH, THH,
HHH}
2. Count the number of tails in each outcome in the  POSSIBLE OUTCOMES VALUE OF THE RANDOM
sample space and assign this number to this VARIABLE Y (NUMBER OF
outcome. TAILS)
TTT 3
TTH 2
THT 2
HTT 2
HHT 1
HTH 1
THH 1
HHH 0
Steps Solution
3. There are four possible values of the random Number of Tails Y Probability P(Y)
variable Y representing the number of tails. These
are 0, 1, 2, and 3. Assign probability values P(Y) to
each value of the random variable.

There are 8 possible outcomes and no tail occurs 0 1/8

once, so the probability that we shall assign to the
random variable 0 is 1/8.

There are 8 possible outcomes and 1 tail occurs 1 3/8

three times, so the probability that we shall assign
to the random variable 1 is 3/8.

There are 8 possible outcomes and 2 tails occur 2 3/8

three times, so the probability that we shall assign
to the random variable 2 is 3/8

There are 8 possible outcomes and 3 tails occur 3 1/8

once, so the probability that we shall assign to the
random variable 3 is 1/8
TABLE 1.1 THE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION OR THE
PROBABILITY MASS FUNCTION OF DISCRETE
RANDOM VARIABLE Y.

Number of 0 1 2 3
Tails Y

Probability 1/8 3/8 3/8 1/8

P(Y)
DISCRETE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION OR A
PROBABILITY MASS FUNCTION

• Consists of the values a random variable can assume and

the corresponding probabilities of the values
 ACTIVITY 2 NUMBER OF BLUE BALLS
• Two balls are drawn in succession without replacement
from an urn containing 5 red balls and 6 blue ball. Let Z be
the random variable representing the number of blue
balls.
Steps Solution
1. Determine the sample space. Let B represent Blue The sample space for this experiment is:
Balls and R represent the red ball S = {RR, RB BR, BB}
2. Count the number of tails in each outcome in the  POSSIBLE OUTCOMES VALUE OF THE RANDOM
sample space and assign this number to this VARIABLE Y (NUMBER OF
outcome. TAILS)
RR 0
RB 1
BR 1
BB 2
Steps Solution
3. There are three possible values of the random Number of Tails Y Probability P(Y)
variable Z representing the number of Blue Balls.
These are 0, 1, and 2. Assign probability values P(Z)
to each value of the random variable.

There are 4 possible outcomes and no blue balls 0 1/4

occurs once, so the probability that we shall assign
to the random variable 0 is 1/4.

There are 4 possible outcomes and 1 blue balls 1 1/2

occurs two times, so the probability that we shall
assign to the random variable 1 is 1/2.

There are 4 possible outcomes and 2 blue balls 2 1/4

occur once, so the probability that we shall assign to
the random variable 2 is 1/4
TABLE 1.2 THE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION OR THE
PROBABILITY MASS FUNCTION OF DISCRETE
RANDOM VARIABLE Y.

Number of 0 1 2
Blue Balls

Probability 1/4 1/2 1/4

P(Y)
• Can you make a histogram for this probability distribution? Remember that a
histogram is a bar graph. To construct a histogram for a probability
distribution, follow these steps.
• Plot the values of the random variable along the horizontal axis.
• Plot the probabilities along the vertical axis.
MATHEMATICAL JOURNAL
• In the preceding probability distributions, what do you
notice about the probability of each value of the random
variable? Write your conclusion regarding this matter.
• In each of the preceding probability distributions, get the
sum of the probabilities of all values of the random
variable. What sum did you get? Write your conclusion
regarding this matter
PROPERTIES OF A PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION

• 1. The probability of each value of the random variable must be between or equal to 0 and 1. In symbol,
we write it a 0
ACTIVITY FOR LESSON 2 (EXPLORING RANDOM
VARIABLES)
1. Four coins are tossed. Let Z be the random variable representing the
number of head that occur. Construct the probability distribution of the
random variable Z. Make a graph of the probability distribution.