STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY

RANDOM VARIABLE
 IS A VARIABLE WHOSE POSSIBLE
VALUES ARE DETERMINED BY CHANCE

 IS TYPICALLY REPRESENTED BY AN
UPPERCASE LETTER, WHILE ITS VALUES
REPRESENTS LOWERCASE LETTER.
RANDOM VARIABLE CAN EITHER BE:
DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE
 CAN ONLY TAKE A FINITE (COUNTABLE) NUMBER OF
DISTINCT VALUES
 EXACT AND BE REPRESENTED BY NON- NEGATIVE
WHOLE NUMBERS.

EXAMPLE:
1. X = NUMBER OF STUDENTS RANDOMLY SELECTED TO BE
INTERVIEWED BY A RESEARCHER
2. Y = NUMBER OF LEFT-HANDED TEACHERS RANDOMLY
SELECTED IN THE FACULTY
3. Z = NUMBER OF WOMEN RANDOMLY SELECTED IN A
POLITICAL RALLY
CONTINUOUS RANDOM VARIABLE
 CAN ASSUME AN INFINITE NUMBER OF VALUES IN AN
INTERVAL BETWEEN TWO SPECIFIC VALUES: NON
NEGATIVE WHOLE NUMBERS, FRACTIONS AND DECIMAL

EXAMPLE:
1. X = THE WEIGHTS OF RANDOMLY SELECTED
STUDENTS IN POUNDS
2. Y = THE LENGHTS OF RANDOMLY SELECTED
SHOES OF SHS IN CENTIMETERS
3. Z = THE HOURLY TEMPERATURE LAST
SUNDAY.
OTHER EXAMPLES:

DETERMINE IF THE RANDOM VARIABLE X OR Y IS

DICRETE OR CONTINUOUS:

1. X = NUMBER OF POINTS SCORED IN THE LAST

SEASON BY A RANDOMLY SELECTED
BASKETBALL PLAYER IN THE PBA.
2. Y = THE HEIGHT OF A RANDOMLY SELECTED
STUDENTS INSIDE THE LIBRARY IN
CENTIMETERS.
3. X = NUMBER OF BIRDS IN THE NEST
4. Y = THE WEIGHTS IN kg. OF RANDOMLY
SELECTED DANCERS AFTER TAKING UP
AEROBICS.
DISCRETE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION
 A LISTING OF ALL POSSIBLE VALUES OF A DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE
ALONG WITH THEIR CORRESPONDING PROBABILITIES
 CAN BE REPRESENTED IN TABULAR / GRAPHICAL FORM

PROPERTIES OF A DISCRETE PROBABILITY

DISTRIBUTION
A. THE PROBABILITY OF EACH VALUE OF A DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE IS
BETWEEN 0 AND 1
B. THE SUM OF ALL THE PROBABILITIES IS 1

෍𝑃 𝑥 = 1

Example 1:
 Example 2:

1 2

3 4

THE GIVEN SPINNER IS DIVIDED INTO FOUR SECTIONS.

LET X BE THE SCORE WHERE THE ARROW WILL STOP
(NUMBERED AS 1,2,3,4) IN THE DRAWING ABOVE

A. FIND THE PROBABILITY THAT THE ARROW WILL STOP AT 1, 2,

3, AND 4.
B. B. CONSTRUCT THE DISCRETE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION
OF THE RANDOM VARIABLE X IN TABULAR FORM
Example 3:
A RANDOM VARIABLE X HAS THE FOLLOWING
PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION:
X 1 2 3 4
P(x) 0.21 29c 0.29 0.21
DETERMINE c.
SOLUTION: USE THE SECOND PROPERTY OF DISCRETE
PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION TO DETERMINE P(2)
A. σ 𝑃 𝑥 = 𝑃 1 + 𝑃 2 + 𝑃 3 + 𝑃 4
1 = 0.21 + 29c + 0.29 + 0.21
1 = 0.71 + 29c
29c = 1 – 0.71
c = 0.29/29
c = 0.01
PROBABILITY HISTOGRAM

 THE DISCRETE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION CAN BE GRAPHED

TO FORM A PROBABILITY HISTOGRAM.

 THE VALUES OF THE DISCRETE RANDOM VARIABLE X ARE SET

ON THE HORIZONTAL AXIS OF THE GRAPH AND THE
PROBABILITIES ARE SET ON THE VERTICAL AXIS.

 THE VALUES OF X ARE PLACED ON THE CENTER OF EACH BAR

WHEN CONSTRUCTING A HISTOGRAM.

 THE PROBABILITIES SERVE AS THE HEIGHTOF EACH BAR.

SEATWORK:
Direction: Classify the following random variables as discrete or
continuous.

___________ 1. A = the number of students enrolled in Grade

12 in your school
___________ 2. B = the length of time spent in playing video
games in minutes
___________ 3. C = the number of gifts received by a birthday
celebrator
___________ 4. D = the number of cars in a parking lot every
noon
___________ 5. E = the weights in pounds of newly born babies
in a hospital nursery
___________ 6. F = the number of mobile phones sold in one
week in DC Store
Direction: Which of the following are discrete probability
distributions? If it is NOT a discrete probability distribution,
identify the property or properties that are not satisfied.
CONSTRUCT A PROBABILITY HISTOGRAM IF IT IS A DISCRETE
PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION.
x 1 2 3 4 5
1. P(x) 0.05 0.27 0.34 0.28 0.06
x 0 1 2 3 4
2. P(x) 1/10 3/10 1/5 1/4 3/10
x 1 2 3 4 5
3. P(x) 4/25 6/25 8/25 1/5 3/25
x 1 2 3 4 5
4. P(x) 2/15 1/5 4/15 1/3 c
x 1 2 3 4 5
5. P(x) 2/25 0.24 2/5 0.16 d