Probability & Stats- The

Basics
(20% of the math portion of the PRE test are probability and statistic questions!)

Some Definitions
Mean: the average (add up all the values
in the number set and divide by the
number of values you added)
Median: the middle value (list the values
of the data set in numerical order and
identify which value appears in the middle
of the list)
Mode:the number that occurs most often
in the set of numbers
Range:the difference between the highest
and lowest values within the set (subtract
the smallest number from the largest
number in the set)

Correlation vs. Causation

A correlation measures the relationship between any two variables (X & Y).
A variable is just about anything that changes AND you can measure.
 In a positive correlation, as X goes up, Y goes up.
In a negative correlation, as X goes up, Y goes down.
Correlation is expressed as (r), which goes from -1.0 to 1.0

Scatter Plots!
 What is a scatter plot? Well, it is a graph in which the values of two variables
are plotted along two axes, the pattern of the resulting points revealing any
correlation present.
And as a reminder, correlation measures the relationship between any two
variables (X & Y) and is expressed as (r).
Examples of Scatter plots & their correlation

(It may be helpful to refer to the previous section on correlation & causation when looking at
these examples- the numbers under each scatter plot are the calculated r-value for
correlation described in that section)

What the heck is Standard Deviation?

Standard deviation is an important part of statistics. Lets start with the
basics. The graph you see below is what we call a normal curve.
The line down the middle is the mean, and on either side of it are equally
spaced deviations. Because the line slopes downwards, the area inside each
deviation grows exponentially smaller the further it is from the mean.
The proportions of the normal curve will always be the same for normally
distributed data sets, which means that the percentage of data within each
deviation is always the same for every data set!
Graphic Representations of Data
Tables
Charts
Spreadsheets
Histograms
Bar graphs

Calculating Probability
Independent Events - Two events, A and B, are independent if the fact that
A occurs does not affect the probability of B occurring. Some other examples
of independent events are: Landing on heads after tossing a coin AND rolling
a 5 on a single 6-sided die.
Saying "a Tail is due", or "just one more go, my luck is due" is called The
Gambler's Fallacy.

Dependent Events - Two events are dependent if the outcome or

occurrence of the first affects the outcome or occurrence of the second so
that the probability is changed.

In the above example, we are removing cards from the deck, so on the
second draw there are less cards, thus the probability of the 2nd draw is
different than the first. However, in some problems involving drawing cards
from a deck, replace the card drawn, making the probability of the 2nd draw
the same as the first. Some definitions to help you when solving problems
involving drawing cards from a deck:

Tree Diagrams - Tree diagrams allow us to see all the possible outcomes of
an event and calculate their probability. Each branch in a tree diagram
represents a possible outcome.
If two events are independent, the outcome of one has no effect on the
outcome of the other. For example, if we toss two coins, getting heads with
the first coin will not affect the probability of getting heads with the second.
A tree diagram which represent a coin being tossed three times looks like
this :

From the tree diagram, we can see that there are eight possible outcomes. To
find out the probability of a particular outcome, we need to look at all the
available paths (set of branches).
The sum of the probabilities for any set of branches is always 1.
Also note that in a tree diagram to find a probability of an outcome we
multiply along the branches and add vertically.
The probability of three heads is:
P (H H H) = 1/2 1/2 1/2 = 1/8
P (2 Heads and a Tail) = P (H H T) + P (H T H) + P (T H H)
= 1/2 1/2 1/2 + 1/2 1/2 1/2 + 1/2 1/2 1/2
= 1/8 + 1/8 + 1/8
= 3/8
Mutually Exclusive - Two events are mutually exclusive if they cannot occur
at the same time. Another word that means mutually exclusive is disjoint.
 If two events are disjoint, then the probability of them both occurring at the
same time is 0.

Examples of Mutually Exclusive Events:

Turning left or right - this is a mutually exclusive event because you cannot
do both at the same time.
Tossing a coin and getting heads or tails - this is mutually exclusive because
you will get one or the other, heads or tails, you cannot get both head and
tails at the same time.

Where else can you look for math help?

FREE MATH TUTORING IN THE AQ MATH DEPARTMENT!
Khanacademy.com
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/probability/probability-
geometry/probability-basics/a/probability-the-basics
Ixl.com
Scatterplots - https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-8/scatter-plots