STATISTICS &
PROBABILITY
Statistics and Probability is one of the most
important branches of mathematics that is often
taken for granted by everyone. Statistics plays a
very important role in our lives. Without statistics,
companies could not effectively assess the
performance of their manufacturing plants, TV
channels would have no way of knowing which TV
shows people prefer to watch, we would not be
aware of the death rate caused by cancer, and
many more.
Random Variables and
Probability
Distributions
What I Know
(Pre-Test)
Multiple Choice. Read each questions carefully. Choose the
letter of the best answer and write it on a ¼ sheet of paper.
1. Which of the following random variables is
discrete?
a. Number of movies made by a director
b. Length of film used in a movie
c. Time needed to finish a movie
d. Land area of a movie studio
Multiple Choice. Read each questions carefully. Choose the
letter of the best answer and write it on a ¼ sheet of paper.
2. If two dice are rolled, which of the following is not a
possible outcome of the random variable X = total
number of dots facing up?
a. 2
b. 3
c. 10
d. 13
Multiple Choice. Read each questions carefully. Choose the
letter of the best answer and write it on a ¼ sheet of paper.
3. Find the correct value of Y to make a valid
probability distribution.
a. 0.11 b. 0.15
c. 0.35 d. 0.24
Multiple Choice. Read each questions carefully. Choose the
letter of the best answer and write it on a ¼ sheet of paper.
4. Which of the following is NOT a valid probability
distribution?
Multiple Choice. Read each questions carefully. Choose the
letter of the best answer and write it on a ¼ sheet of paper.
5. A family of 4 children has the following probability
distribution. What is the expected number of girls in a
group of 4 siblings?
a. 1 b. 2
c. 2.5 d. 3
Multiple Choice. Read each questions carefully. Choose the
letter of the best answer and write it on a ¼ sheet of paper.
6. The mean of a probability distribution is the same
as the expected value of a discrete random variable
of a probability distribution.
a. True b. False
c. Both d. Neither
Multiple Choice. Read each questions carefully. Choose the
letter of the best answer and write it on a ¼ sheet of paper.
7. Tossing a die has the following probability
distribution. Find the standard deviation of the
number of spots that will appear when a die is tossed.
a. 0.167 b. 1.667
c. 1.7 d. 2.9
Multiple Choice. Read each questions carefully. Choose the
letter of the best answer and write it on a ¼ sheet of paper.
8. What is the mean of the probability distribution?
a. 2.23 b. 2.33
c. 2.34 d. 2.35
Multiple Choice. Read each questions carefully. Choose the
letter of the best answer and write it on a ¼ sheet of paper.
9. What is the variance of the probability distribution?
a. 1.25 b. 2.25
c. 3.25 d. 4.25
Multiple Choice. Read each questions carefully. Choose the
letter of the best answer and write it on a ¼ sheet of paper.
10. . What is the standard deviation of the probability
distribution?
a. 1.25 b. 1.50
c. 2.00 d. 2.25
Answer Key:
1. A 6. A
2. D 7. C
3. B 8. D
4. C 9. B
5. B 10. B
Random Variables and
Probability
Distributions
The Concept of
Random
Variables
CONTINUOUS - having the property that the absolute value
of the numerical difference between the value at a given point
and the value at any point in a neighborhood of the given point
can be made as close to zero as desired by choosing the
neighborhood small enough.
DIE - a small cube marked on each face with from one to six
spots and used usually in games by being shaken and thrown
to come to rest at random on a flat surface.
DISCRETE - consisting of distinct or unconnected elements
FINITE - having limits or having a limited nature
INFINITE - extremely large or having no limits
MEASUREMENT - the process of getting the amount or degree
of something
NOTATION - a system of marks, signs, figures, or characters
that is used to represent information
RANDOM - without definite aim, direction, rule, or method.
Variables
• Written in small letter
• give value to equations like 𝑥 + 2 = 9
• In this case 𝑥 can only take on a distinct value and that is 7
Random Variables
• written in capital letter
• a random variable could be 𝑋 = the number of dots facing up
after rolling a die
• Notice how the random process of rolling a die gives you a
random outcome each time you perform the experiment.
Rolling once may give you 5, and rolling again may give you
6, and again 4; I think you see the point here. Hence it is
called a “random” variable.
Random Variables
• written in capital letter
• a random variable could be 𝑋 = the number of dots facing up
after rolling a die
• Additionally, we also consider 𝑋 as a numerical type of data
because the outcomes of the said random variable are
numerical in nature.
• It is a variable whose values are
determined by chances.
Random Variables
• A random variable may also be used to quantify
unquantifiable processes. For example, in the random
variable 𝑌 = sex of senior high school students
Possible Outcomes: Male or Female
Characteristics: Categorical (Non-numerical)
It would be very difficult to perform mathematical operations on such
kinds of data so we have to find a way to convert these data into
numbers. We could assign the value 0 for male and 1 for female.
DISCRETE and
CONTINUOUS
Random Variable
DISCRETE Random Variable
Its values are obtained through counting. The sample space is
finite (can be counted) because each sample has a space
between them.
EXAMPLES:
1. The number of rotten bananas in a bunch of bananas.
2. Number of PWD in a certain class
3. Number of tiles needed to cover a floor
A sample space is the set of all possible
outcomes in a random experiment.
CONTINUOUS Random Variable
Its values are obtained through measurement. There are
infinite elements in the sample space
EXAMPLES:
1. growth of tomato seedlings per week
2. time needed to finish an exam
Discrete or Continuous
Total number of spots in rolling two dice DISCRETE
Number of pages in a chapter of a book DISCRETE
Power consumption of an appliance CONTINUOUS
Body temperature of a person CONTINUOUS
Total number of all animals in a farm DISCRETE
