QDA for IE 2104690

Joint Probability Distributions

Jointly Distributed Random Variables

Expected Values
Covariance
Correlation

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Joint Probability Mass

Function
• Two R.V.s, X and Y are observed simultaneously from one
experiment.
• Two discrete random variables. For X and Y being discrete
R.V.s, the joint probability mass function

• Note that joint PMF satisfies the probability model.

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Example
• pXY(x, y) = (x+y)/30; x = 0,1,2,3; y = 0,1,2
• Find P(X ≤ 2, Y = 1), P(X > 2, Y > 1), P(X > Y)

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Marginal PMF
• Defined as the PMF of X alone or Y alone.
• If X and Y are discrete R.V.s with joint PMF p(x,y), the
marginal PMF is obtained by summing p(x,y) for all y (or x).

• Marginal PMF can be used to determine E[X] and E[Y].

• From the previous example,

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Example
• An electric display sign has 3 light bulbs in the 1st row and 4
light bulbs in the 2nd row.
– X = # of bulbs in the 1st row that will be burned out at a
specified time t.
– Y = # of bulbs in the 2nd row that will be burned out at a
specified time t.
– Find P(X=Y) and P(X≤ 2, Y ≤ 2)
Y
– Find the marginal PMFs.
0 1 2 3 4
0 0.08 0.07 0.06 0.01 0.01
X 1 0.06 0.10 0.12 0.05 0.02
2 0.05 0.06 0.09 0.04 0.03
5
3 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.04
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Joint Probability
Density Function
• For two continuous R.Vs, we define a joint PDF fXY(x,y) for
these two variables is a function satisfying

• Then for any two-dimension set A

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Joint Cumulative
Distribution Function
• Defn. A joint cumulative distribution function or
joint cdf of continuous R.Vs X and Y is defined as

y (x,y)

FXY(x,y) is the probability that X and Y

lies in this region.
x

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Examples (1.1)
• A bank operates both a drive-up and a walk-up window. On a
randomly selected day, let
– X = Proportion of time that the drive-up facility is used
– Y = Proportion of time that the walk-up facility is used
The set of all possible values for (X, Y) is
D = {(x, y): 0 ≤ x ≤ 1, 0 ≤ y ≤ 1}

• What is P (neither facilities is busy more than 1/4 of time)?

(Ans: 0.0109)
(0 ≤ X ≤ 1/4 and 0 ≤ Y ≤ 1/4 )
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Examples (2)
• A randomly selected point (X, Y) in a unit square has the
uniform joint pdf given by

3 5
– Find the joint CDF and P(X+Y ≤ 1)
2 4
1) x ≤ 0 or y ≤ 0, FX,Y(x,y) = 0
2) 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 and 0 ≤ y ≤ 1 1
x+y = 1

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Marginal PDF
• If X and Y are continuous R.Vs. with joint PDF f(x,y)

• Ex: f(x,y) = (21/4)x2y; x2 ≤ y ≤ 1. Determine the marginal pdf

of X and Y.

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Conditional Probability
Distribution
• Let X and Y be two continuous RV’s with joint pdf, f(x,y).
• The conditional probability distribution of X given Y is
defined as

f XY ( x, y )
=
f X / Y ( x / y) , fY ( y ) > 0
fY ( y )

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Example (1.2)
• Referring to the situation of bank’s facility, where
X = proportion of time that dive-up facility is busy and
Y = proportion of time that walk-up window is busy.
• What is the conditional pdf of Y given that X = 0.8?

• What is the probability that the walk-up facility is busy at most

half the time given that X = 0.8? (Ans: 0.39)

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Example (3)
• Give the joint density function

 x(1 + 3 y 2 )
 , 0 < x < 2, 0 < y < 1
f XY ( x, y ) =  4
0
 , elsewhere

x
find fX(x), fY(y) and fX/Y(x/y) (Ans: f X (=
x) , 0 <, x < 2
2 2
and determine (Ans: 3/64) 1+ 3y
=
fY ( y ) , 0 < y <1
1 1 1 2
P  < X < Y =
4 2 3
f X / Y ( x / y=
)
x
, 0< x<2
2
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Independence of R.Vs
• Definition: X and Y are independent iff

– When X and Y are discrete

– When X and Y are continuous

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Example 4
• In an electric display problem, determine whether
X and Y are independent.
Y
0 1 2 3 4
0 0.08 0.07 0.06 0.01 0.01
X 1 0.06 0.10 0.12 0.05 0.02
2 0.05 0.06 0.09 0.04 0.03
3 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.04

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Example 5
• Two independent measurements X and Y of rainfall are made
during a given period at a certain location. The pdf g(r) of
each measurement is

Determine P(X + Y ≤ 1)

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Ex. 6: Time before Series System

Failure
• Let X and Y be two independent exponential R.V. with
parameters λ1, λ2. Find P(X < Y).

y=x

Two components connected in series

C1 C2

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Expected Value
• For W = g(X, Y), E[W] can be determined directly from
pXY(x,y).

– (X,Y) are discrete

– (X,Y) are continuous

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Example 7
• An instructor has given a short quiz consisting of 2 parts.
For a randomly chosen student, let X = the number of
points earned on the first part and Y = the number of points
earned on the second part. Suppose that the joint pmf of X
and Y is given in the table
a. If the score is the total number of
y points earned on the two parts,
p(x,y) 0 5 10 15 what is the expected record score
0 .02 .06 .02 .10 E(X+Y)?
b. If the maximum of the two scores
x 5 .04 .15 .20 .10
is recorded, what is the expected
10 .01 .15 .14 .01
recorded score?
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Example 8.1
• A 1-lb mixed nut containing almonds, cashews, and peanuts.
The joint pdf of the amount X of almonds and amount Y of
cashews in a 1-lb can of nuts was

• If 1 lb of almonds costs the company $1, 1 lb of cashews costs

$1.5 and 1 lb of peanuts costs $0.5, the total cost of the
contents of a can is

• Determine the expected total cost. (Ans: $1.1) 20

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Covariance
• When two rv X and Y are not independent, it is
frequently of interest to assess how strongly they are
related to one another

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Covariance
• Covariance measures the degree that X and Y vary together.
• If σX,Y is positive
– X-µX and Y-µY tends to be positive or negative together.
– X > µX implies Y > µX , or X < µX implies Y < µX
• If σX,Y is negative
– X-µX and Y-µY tends to have different signs.
– X > µX implies Y < µX , or X < µX implies Y > µX
• If σX,Y = 0, X and Y are said to be “uncorrelated”.
• If X and Y are independent, E[XY] = E[X]E[Y]. Therefore, σX,Y = 0.
– But σX,Y = 0 does not imply independence.
– Two dependent R.V.s can also have σX,Y = 0.
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Properties of Covariance
• Cov (X, X) = Var(X)
• Cov (X, Y) = Cov(Y, X)
• Cov (cX, Y) = c Cov(X, Y)
• Cov (X, Y + Z) = Cov(X, Y) + Cov(X, Z)
• Var(X+Y) = Var(X) + Var(Y) + 2 Cov(X, Y)

• If Xi’s are independent

– Cov[Xi, Xj] = 0, i ≠ j.
– So, Var(∑ Xi) = ∑i Var(Xi) 23
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Example 9.1
• The joint pmf’s for X = automobile policy
deductible amount and Y = homeowner policy
deductible amount y
p(x,y) 0 100 200
• Find COV(X,Y) x 100 .2 .1 .2
250 .05 .15 .3

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Example 8.2
• The joint and marginal pdf’s of X = amount of almonds
and Y = amount of cashews were

• Find COV(X,Y) (Ans. -2/75)

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Correlation Coefficient
• Let σx and σy be standard deviations of X and Y .

is called “correlation coefficient” or “normalized covariance”.

• Toss a biased coin n times and observe # heads (X) and # tails
(Y). X + Y = n and E[X] + E[Y] = n.

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Correlation Coefficient
• If a and c are either both positive or both negative
– Corr(aX + b, cY +d) = Corr(X,Y)
• For any two rv’s X and Y, -1 ≤ Corr(X,Y) ≤ 1
• If X and Y are independent, then ρ = 0 but ρ = 0 does not
imply independence.
• If ρ = 0 , X and Y are said to be “uncorrelated”.
• ρ = 1 or -1 iff Y= aX + b for some numbers a and b with a ≠ 0
• A value of ρ near 1 does not necessarily imply that increasing
the value of X causes Y to increase. It implies only that large X
values are associated with large Y values

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Example 9.2
• The joint pmf’s for X = automobile policy
deductible amount and Y = homeowner policy
deductible amount
y
• Find Corr (X,Y) p(x,y) 0 100 200
x 100 .2 .1 .2
250 .05 .15 .3

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