Stats Chapter 6 Project/Exam Project

By: Kimbria Lance & Sadie Weber

In our own words, a random variable is any quantitative variable and can be shown as
“x.” In a given experiment or observation a random variable is a chance or random outcome that
is required to be measurable, allowing probabilities to be assigned. Two types of random
variables are discrete and continuous. A discrete random variable can only obtain a limited
number of values or a countable number. While continuous random variables can take any
countless values in a line interval. An example of continuous is someone's height because there
is no jump between numbers. Nevertheless, discrete is found by counting and continuous is
found by measuring.
The probability distribution is an assignment of probabilities to each distinct value of a
discrete random variable. Key components include an assigned probability to each distinct value
as well as, the sum of an assigned probability must be one or 100%. Mean can be written as μ
and is known as the expected value. You can calculate mean by using the formula Σ xP(x). What
the mean tells us about a probability distribution is how many times we expected a given event to
occur. If the probability is 50% according to the mean we would expect 5/10 people to
successfully complete the given event. Standard deviation can be represented by σ and is
calculated by the formula √ Σ (x- μ )^2 P(x). The probability distribution tells us how to spread
out the data is and that reflects the number of successes that are likely to occur.
A binomial experiment is an experiment that meets the consisted requirements. These
requirements are obtaining a fixed number of trials, n trials being independent and identical to
each other, having only two outcomes (success or failure), success probability must be the same
for each, and finding the probability of the number of successes out of a certain number of trials.
Inside a binomial experiment, there are a few abbreviated terms to help eliminate the complexity
of the equation. N stands for the number of trials, P stands for the probability of success, Q is the
probability of failure, and r is the total number of successes. There are three major ways to
compute binomial probabilities. My partner and I prefer the table method. This method is a
gigantic list in the back of our statistics book, where once you find the n, p, and r you trace them
with your finger and find the specific number was the categories meet. Another method is the
n!
formula, P (r) = r!(n−r)! · pr · q (n−r) . All you do to use this formula is plug in the values correctly
and solve them. The last method is your calculator. The steps used to find the mean in a binomial
distribution is to enter the outcomes in list 1 and the probability of that event happening in list 2.
Next, press variable stats and select calc and hit 1-vars stats. Then, hit L1, L2 and enter, this will
give you the mean and standard deviation. The mean and deviation are abbreviated with
symbols. For instance, the X bar is mean and the standard deviation is shown σ . Mean, or
expected number of successes can be calculated by μ =np. Standard deviation, on the other hand,
is calculated using the formula σ =√npq and it shows the measure of the spread of the
distribution. Both mean and standard deviation are major key factors that play gigantic roles in
chapter 6.

15% of people can wiggle their ears. In a class of 20 statistics students, what is the probability
that none of them can wiggle their ears? What is the probability that at least 8 can wiggle their
ears?

Our scenario meets the criteria of a binomial experiment because the probability distribution is
assigned to each distinct value, in this case, the class of 20 statistics students. Each situation is
independent and identical to each other because they obtain only two outcomes that can be a
success or failure. The success probabilities are the same for each student because no one can
have a higher advantage at wiggling their ears. In a class of 20 students where 15% can wiggle
their ears, the probability that no statistic students can wiggle their ears is 0.039. We found this
by using the binomial table in the back of the book. For n we went to 20 because there is a total
of 20 students in the class, we then found r is 0 because no people can wiggle their ears. Last we
go over to .15 because 15% can wiggle their ears. Once connecting the numbers in their rows we
found the probability was 0.039. We choose the binomial table because it is simple and the most
convenient for our scenario. The probability that at least 8 can wiggle their ears is .006 or 0.6%.
To find these calculations we did the exact same procedure by using the table, except instead of
having r be 0 we used 8+9+10 and up to 20 to find the total. Therefore, we did .005+.001+.000
and so on. Our answers mean that out of 20 stats students 3.9 percent cannot wiggle their ears
and there is a 0.6 percent chance that 8 students or more can wiggle their ears.