Statistics
Random Variables and
Probability Distributions
Objectives
Tofind the values of the random
variable in an experiment.
Toclassify variable as discrete or
continuous random variable.
Toconstruct the probability
distribution of a discrete random
variable
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Definition:
A random variable is a numerical
quantity that is assigned to the
outcome of an experiment. We
use capital letters to represent a
random variable.
A random variable is a quantitative
variable whose value depends on change.
3
Examples: used of random
variables in real life
The return on an investment in a one-year period
The price of an equity
The number of customers entering a store
The sales volume of a store on a particular day
The turnover rate at your organization next year
Decision Making under Uncertainty
Diversification
Conditional Probability Distribution
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 4
Two Types of Random Variables
A discrete random variable can
assume a countable number of
values.
Number of steps to the top of the
Eiffel Tower*
A continuous random variable can
assume any value along a given
interval of a number line.
The time a tourist stays at the top
once s/he gets there
*Believe it or not, the answer ranges from 1,652 to 1,789. See Great Buildings
5
Study the examples.
Discrete Random Variables Continuous Random Variables
number of pencils in the box Amount of antibiotics in the vial
Number of soldiers in the troop Lifetime of light bulbs in minutes
Number of rotten tomatoes in Length of wire ropes
the basket
Number of defective flashlights Voltage of radio batteries
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 6
Two Types of Random
Variables
Discrete random variables
Number of sales
Number of calls
Shares of stock
People in line
Mistakes per page
Continuous random variables
Length
Depth
Volume
Time
Weight
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Exercises:
Classify the following as Discrete or Continuous
1) The height of mango trees in a farm
2) The area of lots in a subdivision
3) The number of students who joined a field trip
4) The time it takes a student to finish his test in a particular subject
5) The number of registered nurses in a city
6) The number of winners in lotto for each month
7) The weight of professional boxers
8) The grade point average of students
9) The number of senators present in the meeting
10) The weights of new born babies for the month of June
11) The number of pens in the box
12) The capacity of the electrical resistors
13) The amount of salt needed to bake a loaf of bread
14) The capacity of an auditorium
15) The number of households with television
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 9
Exercises:
Classify the following as Discrete or Continuous
1) The height of mango trees in a farm Continuous
2) The area of lots in a subdivision Continuous
3) The number of students who joined a field trip Discrete
4) The time it takes a student to finish his test in a particular subject Continuou
5) The number of registered nurses in a city Discrete
6) The number of winners in lotto for each month Discrete
7) The weight of professional boxers Continuous
8) The grade point average of students Continuous
9) The number of senators present in the meeting Discrete
10) The weights of new born babies for the month of June Continuous
11) The number of pens in the box Discrete
12) The capacity of the electrical resistors Continuous
13) The amount of salt needed to bake a loaf of bread Continuous
14) The capacity of an auditorium Discrete
15) The number of households with television Discrete
Steps in determining the values of the random
variable in an experiment:
1. List the sample space of the experiment
2. Count the number of the random variable
in each outcome and assign this number
to this outcome
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Example 1
Suppose two coins are tossed and we are
interested to determine the number of
heads that will come out. Let us use H to
represent the number of heads that will
come out. Determine the values of the
random variable H.
STEPS:
Step 1. List the sample space of the experiment
S = { HH, HT, TH, TT }
Step 2. Count the number of heads in each outcome and assign
this number to the outcome.
Outcome Number of Heads
( value of H)
HH 2
HT 1
TH 1
TT 0
The values of the random variable H in this experiment
are 0, 1, and 2.
range space {0, 1, 2}
Example 2
A basket contains 10 ripe and 4 unripe
bananas. If three bananas are taken
from the basket one after the other,
determine the possible values of the
random R representing the number of
ripe bananas.
Step 1. List the sample space of this experiment. Let R represent
the ripe bananas and let U represent the unripe bananas.
S= { RRR, RRU, RUR, URR, UUR, URU, RUU, UUU}
Step 2. Count the number of ripe bananas R in each outcome
and assign this number to this outcome
Outcome No. of Ripe Bananas
( Value of R)
RRR 3
RRU 2
RUR 2
URR 2
UUR 1
URU 1
RUU 1
UUU 0
The values of the random variable R in this experiment are 0, 1, 2, and 3
range space {0, 1, 2, 3}
Seatwork:
Determine the values of the random variable
( range space ) in each of the following
situations:
1)A meeting of consuls was attended by 4
Americans and 2 Germans. If three consuls were
selected at random one after the other, determine
the values of the random variable G representing
the number of Germans.
2)Let X be the number of boys in a family of 4
children. Determine the values of the random
variable X ( range space )
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 16
S = { AAA, AAG, AGA, GAA, GGA, GAG, AGG}
Outcome No. of Germans
( Value of G)
AAA 0
AAG 1
AGA 1
GAA 1
GGA 2
GAG 2
AGG 2
Range Space { 0, 1, 2 }
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 17
Example 2:Let X be the number of boys in
a family of 4 children. Determine the
values of the random variable X ( range
space )
XXXX 4 XYXX 3
YXXX 3 YYXX 2
XXXY 3 XYXY 2
YXXY 2 YYXY 1
XXYX 3 XYYX 2
YXYX 2 YYYX 1
XXYY 2 XYYY 1
YXYY 1 YYYY 0
range space {0, 1, 2, 3, 4}
OBJECTIVE:
Construct the probability
distribution of a discrete
random variable or also known
as the probability mass function.
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 19
Review: Simple frequency distribution
The following data show the nationalities of
the participants in the International Conference
on Human Rights held in the Philippines.
Construct a frequency distribution for these
data.
American Italian Japanese German
German American Italian German
Filipino Japanese Filipino Korean
German American American Italian
Chinese Japanese German Japanese
Korean Italian Japanese Filipino
American Japanese Japanese Filipino
Chinese American
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 20
NATIONALITY NUMBER OF
PARTICIPANTS
American 6
German 5
Filipino 4
Chinese 2
Korean 2
Italian 4
Japanese 7
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 21
DISCRETE PROBABILITY distribution
- also known as probability mass
function, is a table that gives a list of
probability values along with their
associated value in the range of a
discrete random variable.
HOW DO WE CONSTRUCT
THE PROBABILITY
DISTRIBUTION OF A
DISCRETE RANDOM
VARIABLE?
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 23
Probability Distribution of the Discrete Random
Variable
Example 1:
A basket contains 10 ripe and 4 unripe bananas. If three
bananas are taken from the basket one after the other,
determine the possible values of the random variable R
representing the number of ripe bananas.
Step 1. List the sample space of this experiment.
Let R represents the ripe bananas and U
represents the unripe bananas.
S = { RRR, RRU, RUR, URR, UUR, URU, RUU, UUU }
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Step 2. Count the number of Step 3.Construct the frequency
ripe bananas R in each distribution of the values of the
outcome and random variable R
assign this number to this
outcome.
Outcome No. of Ripe No. of Ripe No. of
Bananas Bananas Occurrence
( Value of R) ( Value of R ) ( frequency )
RRR 3
RRU 2
RUR 1
URR 0
UUR Total
URU
RUU
UUU
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 25
Step 2. Count the number of Step 3.Construct the frequency
ripe bananas R in each distribution of the values of the
outcome and random variable R
assign this number to this
outcome.
Outcome No. of Ripe No. of Ripe No. of
Bananas Bananas Occurrence
( Value of R) ( Value of R ) ( frequency )
RRR 3 3 1
RRU 2 2 3
RUR 2 1 3
URR 2 0 1
UUR 1 Total 8
URU 1
RUU 1
UUU 0
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 26
Step 4. Construct the probability distribution of the
random variable R by getting the probability of
occurrence of each value of the Random variable.
No. of Ripe bananas No. of Occurrence Probability
( values of R) ( frequency) P(R)
3 1
2 3
1 3
0 1
Total 8
The probability distribution of the variable R can be written a follows:
R 3 2 1 0
P(R)
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 27
Step 4. Construct the probability distribution of the
random variable R by getting the probability of
occurrence of each value of the Random variable.
No. of Ripe bananas No. of Occurrence Probability
( values of R) ( frequency) P(R)
3 1 1/8
2 3 3/8
1 3 3/8
0 1 1/8
Total 8 1
The probability distribution of the variable R can be written a follows:
R 3 2 1 0
P(R) 1/8= 0.125 3/8= 0.375 3/8= 0.375 1/8= 0.125
McClave, Statistics, 11th ed. Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables 28
Note:
Just like any other statistical
distribution, a probability mass function
may be graphed using a histogram in
which the horizontal axis represents
the values of the random variable X
and the vertical axis gives the
corresponding probabilities, P(X).
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Example 2:
Four coins are tossed. The random variable H
is defined as the number of heads that appear.
Find the range space.
HHHH HTHH
THHH TTHH
HHHT HTHT
THHT TTHT
HHTH HTTH
THTH TTTH
HHTT HTTT
THTT TTTT
range space {0, 1, 2, 3, 4}
Probability Distribution of the variable H
Associated
Outcome In symbols Probability Probability (P(H)
Value
1
1
No head 0 P(X=0)
16
16
0.0625
P(X=1) 4
One head 1
16
1
16
0.25
P(X=2) 6
Two Heads 2
16
0.375
P(X=3) 4 0.25
Three Heads 3
16
P(X=4) 1
Four Heads 4 0.0625
16
Number of Heads Probability (P(H)
0 0.0625
1 0.25
2 0.375
3 0.25
4 0.0625
Note:
Just like any other statistical distribution, a
probability mass function may be graphed using a
histogram in which the horizontal axis represents the
values of the random variable X and the vertical axis gives
the corresponding probabilities, P(X).
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0 1 2 3 4
Example 3. Consider the probability distribution of the number of
Ripe bananas given below:
R 3 2 1 0
P(R) 1/8 3/8 3/8 1/8
35
Solution: ( Analyze how we solve each of the given problem)
1
1) P (R 3)
8
2) P (R 1) 3
8
3 1 1
3) P ( R 1) P ( 2) P (3)
8 8 2
4) P ( R 2) P (1) P (0) 3 1 1
8 8 2
5) ∑ P(R) = P (3) + P ( 2) + P ( 1 ) + P ( 0 ) =
1 3 3 1
1
8 8 8 8
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QUESTIONS:
1)What do you notice about the probability
values of the random variable in each distribution?
2) What is the sum of the probabilities of the
random variable?
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PROPERTIES OF A DISCRETE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION
1)Each probability value is less than
or equal to one, but greater than
or equal to zero
2) The sum of all probabilities is
equal to one
• In symbol we have
P(x) ≥ 0 for all values
of x
p(x) = 1
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Finding the Discrete Probability Distribution
Described by a Formula
Example 4. Determine whether or not the formula
below describes a probability distribution.
x 1
P( X ) where X 0, 1, 3
7
If it is, find the following:
1)P ( X = 3 )
2) P ( X 1)
3) P ( X 1)
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Solution:
To determine if the formula describes a probability,
substitute the values of the random variable in the formula
to get the corresponding probability values. The obtained
values are shown in the table below.
1) P ( X = 3 ) =
4
X P (X ) 7
0 1
7 2) P ( X 1) P (1) P (3)
1 2 2 4 6
7
7 7 7
4
3 3) P ( X 1) P (0) P (1)
7
1 2 3
7 7 7
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Example 4
Determine whether or not the distribution represents a
probability distribution. If it does not, explain why.
