1. Chapters 4 Probability Distributions
Laws of Probability
Probability Distributions
Normal Models
Sampling Distributions

2. Warm-up
Your friend is tossing a fair coin and obtains 5 heads in a row.
After the 5th head she proclaims “I’m
really due for a tail on the next toss.”
Explain why this thinking is incorrect.

3. Warm-up (2) Non-existent “Law of Averages” Law of Large Numbers
She is not “due” for a tail just because she has 5 heads in a row. (short-run behavior)
Law of Large Numbers
As we repeat a random process over and over, the proportion of times that an event occurs settles down to one number. We call this number the probability. (long-run behavior is a long time! Infinite)

4. Birthday Problem
What is the smallest number of people you need in a group so that the probability of 2 or more people having the same birthday is greater than 1/2?
Answer: 23
No. of people
Probability

5. 4.1 Probability Formal study of uncertainty
The engine that drives Statistics
Primary objectives of Chapters 4:
use the rules of probability to calculate appropriate measures of uncertainty.
Learn the probability basics so that we can do Statistical Inference

6. Probability Considerations
Your favorite basketball team has the ball and trails by 2 points with little time remaining in the game. Should your team attempt a game-tying 2-pointer or go for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win the game? (This situation has often been used in Microsoft job interviews).
After a touchdown should a coach kick the extra point or go for two?
The traffic light at Western Blvd/Gorman St is set to be green for Western Blvd 65% of the time. The light has been red the previous 7 times you drove through that intersection on Western Blvd. Today you are “due” for a green light.
On 4th down should your favorite football team punt or try for the first down?

7. Randomness and probability
Randomness ≠ chaos
A phenomenon is random if individual outcomes are uncertain, but there is nonetheless a regular distribution of outcomes in a large number of repetitions.

8. Coin toss
The result of any single coin toss is random. But the result over many tosses is predictable, as long as the trials are independent (i.e., the outcome of a new coin flip is not influenced by the result of the previous flip).
The probability of heads is 0.5 = the proportion of times you get heads in many repeated trials.
First series of tosses
Second series

9. Probability: Long-run Relative Frequency
With a random sample or randomized experiment, the probability an observation has a particular outcome is the proportion of times that an outcome would occur in a very long sequence of observations.
i) The probability a coin toss results in a heads.
ii) The probability that a 6-sided die shows 4 dots on the upper face when the die is tossed.

10. Basic Definitions
Experiment: act or process that leads to a single outcome that cannot be predicted with certainty
Examples:
1. Toss a coin
2. Draw 1 card from a standard deck of cards
3. Arrival time of flight from Atlanta to RDU

11. Basic Definitions - 2
Sample space: all possible outcomes of an experiment. Denoted by S
Event: any subset of the sample space S;
typically denoted A, B, C, etc.
Null event: the empty set F
Certain event: S

12. Examples 1. Toss a coin once S = {H, T}; A = {H}, B = {T}
2. Toss a die once; count dots on upper face
S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
A=even # of dots on upper face={2, 4, 6}
B=3 or fewer dots on upper face={1, 2, 3}
Select 1 card from a
deck of 52 cards.
S = {all 52 cards}

13. Basic Probability Rules

14. Basic Probability Rules- 2
Coin Toss Example:
S = {Head, Tail}
Probability of heads = 0.5
Probability of tails = 0.5
Basic Probability Rules- 2
3) The complement of any event A is the event that A does not occur, written as A.
The complement rule states that the probability of an event not occurring is 1 minus the probability that is does occur.
P(not A) = P(A) = 1 − P(A)
Tail  = not Tail = Head
P(Tail ) = 1 − P(Tail) = 0.5 
Venn diagram:
Sample space made up of an event A and its complement A , i.e., everything that is not A.

15. Birthday Problem
What is the smallest number of people you need in a group so that the probability of 2 or more people having the same birthday is greater than 1/2?
Answer: 23
No. of people
Probability

16. Example: Birthday Problem
A={at least 2 people in the group have a common birthday}
A’ = {no one has common birthday}

17. Unions: , or Intersections: , and
AÇB
AÈB

18. Mutually Exclusive (Disjoint) Events
Venn Diagrams
Mutually Exclusive (Disjoint) Events
A and B disjoint: A  B=
Mutually exclusive or
disjoint events-no outcomes
from S in common
AÇB
AÈB
A and B not disjoint

19. Laws of Probability - 3 Addition Rule for Disjoint Events
4. If A and B are disjoint events, then P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B)

20. P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) – P(A and B)
Laws of Probability - 4
General Addition Rule
5. For any two events A and B
P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) – P(A and B)

21. General Addition Rule _ For any two events A and B +
P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) - P(A and B)
P(A) =6/13
A or B + A
P(B) =5/13 _ B
P(A and B) =3/13
P(A or B) = 8/13

22. Laws of Probability - 5 Multiplication Rule
6. For two independent events A and B
P(A and B) = P(A) × P(B)
Note: assuming events are independent doesn’t make it true.

23. Multiplication Rule
The probability that you encounter a green light at the corner of Dan Allen and Hillsborough is 0.35, a yellow light 0.04, and a red light What is the probability that you encounter a red light on both Monday and Tuesday?
It’s reasonable to assume that the color of the light you encounter on Monday is independent of the color on Tuesday. So
P(red on Monday and red on Tuesday) =
P(red on Monday) × P(red on Tuesday) = 0.61 × 0.61 =

24. Basic Rules of Probability: Summary
1. 0  P(A)  1 for any event A
2. P() = 0, P(S) = 1
3. P(A’) = 1 – P(A)
4. If A and B are disjoint events, then
P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B)
5. For any two events A and B,
P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) – P(A and B)
6. For two independent events A and B
P(A and B) = P(A) × P(B)

25. M&M candies
If you draw an M&M candy at random from a bag, the candy will have one of six colors. The probability of drawing each color depends on the proportions manufactured, as described here:
What is the probability that an M&M chosen at random is blue?
Color
Brown
Red
Yellow
Green
Orange
Blue
Probability
0.3
0.2
0.1 ?
S = {brown, red, yellow, green, orange, blue}
P(S) = P(brown) + P(red) + P(yellow) + P(green) + P(orange) + P(blue) = 1
P(blue) = 1 – [P(brown) + P(red) + P(yellow) + P(green) + P(orange)]
= 1 – [ ] = 0.1
What is the probability that a random M&M is any of red, yellow, or orange?
P(red or yellow or orange) = P(red) + P(yellow) + P(orange)
= = 0.5

26. Example: college students
Suppose 56% of all students live on campus, 62% of all students purchase a campus meal plan and 42% do both.
Question: what is the probability that a randomly selected student either lives OR eats on campus.
L = {student lives on campus}
M = {student purchases a meal plan}
P(a student either lives or eats on campus)
= P(L or M) = P(L) + P(M) - P(L and M)
= – 0.42
= 0.76

27. Chapter 4 Probability Distributions (cont.)
Odds and Probabilities

28. ODDS AND PROBABILITIES
World Series Odds
From probability to odds
From odds to probability

29. From Probability to Odds
If event A has probability P(A), then the odds in favor of A are P(A) to 1-P(A). It follows that the odds against A are 1-P(A) to P(A)
If the probability of an earthquake in California is .25, then the odds in favor of an earthquake are .25 to .75 or 1 to 3. The odds against an earthquake are .75 to .25 or 3 to 1

30. From Odds to Probability
If the odds in favor of an event E are a to b, then
P(E)=a/(a+b)
in addition,
P(E’)=b/(a+b)
If the odds in favor of UNC winning the NCAA’s are 3 (a) to 1 (b), then
P(UNC wins)=3/4
P(UNC does not win)=
1/4