Gulod, Calatagan, Batangas

Statistics and Probability

Week 3 and 4

Competencies:
a. illustrates a probability distribution for a discrete random variable and its
properties (M11/12SP-IIIa-4)
b. constructs the probability mass function of a discrete random variable and its
corresponding histogram (M11/12SP-IIIa-5)
c. illustrates the mean and variance of a discrete random variable (M11/12SP-
IIIb-1)
d. calculates the mean and the variance of a discrete random variable
(M11/12SP-IIIb-2)

Discrete Probability Distribution and its Corresponding Histogram

What is Discrete Probability Distribution?

A discrete probability distribution consists of the values a random variable can

assume and the corresponding probabilities.

Example: If two coins are tossed, the possible outcomes are HH, HT, TH and TT. If
X is the random variable for the number of head, then:

Possible Outcomes Values of the random variable X

HH 2
HT 1
TH 1
TT 0

1
No Heads = 4

2 1
One Head = 4 = 2

1
Two Heads= 4

Number of Heads, X 0 1 2
Probability, P(X) 1 1 1
4 2 4

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Example 1. Construct a probability distribution for rolling a single die.

Sample space = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
1
Each outcome has a possibility of
6

Outcomes, X 1 2 3 4 5 6
P(X) 1 1 1 1 1 1
6 6 6 6 6 6

Properties of Discrete Probability Distribution

1. The sum of all probabilities should be 1.

P(X) = 1

Number of Heads, X 0 1 2
Probability, P(X) 1 1 1
4 2 4

1 1 1
If we are going to add 4, 2 and 4, the answer would be 1.

2. Probabilities should be confined between 0 and 1.

0 ≤ P(X) ≤ 1

Number of Heads, X 0 1 2
Probability, P(X) 1 1 1
4 2 4

If we take the decimal value of each probability, that would be:

1 1
= 0.25 and 2 = 0.5. And that is greater than zero but less than 1.
4

Example 2: Determine whether the distributions is a discrete probability distribution.

P(X) = 1 0 ≤ P(X) ≤ 1
a)
X 3 6 8
P(X) -0.3 0.6 0.7

No, it is not a discrete probability distribution, P(X) cannot be -0.3.

b)

X 1 2 3 4 5
P(X) 3 1 1 2 3
10 10 10 10 10

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Yes, it is a discrete probability distribution.

Example 3. Suppose three balls are taken from a basket that contains 10 red balls
and 4 white balls. Let R be the random variable representing the number of red balls.
Construct the probability distribution and draw the histogram.

Possible Outcomes Value of the random variable

Y (number of tails)
RRR 3
RRW 2
RWR 2
WRR 2
WWR 1
WRW 1
RWW 1
WWW 0

Number of Red balls, R 0 1 2 3

Probability, P(R) 1 3 3 1
8 8 8 8

Histogram:

Example 4: Box A and Box B contain 1, 2, 3, 4. Write the probability mass function
and draw the histogram of the sum when one number from each box is taken at a
time, with replacement.

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Example 5. The following data show the probabilities for the number of cars sold in
each day at a car dealer store.

Activity # 3

1. Suppose three coins are tossed. Let T be the random variable representing the
number of tails that occur. Construct the discrete probability distribution and draw
the histogram.

2. A meeting of envoys was attended by 4 Japanese and 2 Thai. If three envoys

were selected at random one after the other, construct the probability distribution
of variable J representing the number of Japanese. Draw its histogram.

3. A pair of fair dice is rolled. Let X denote the sum of the number of dots on the top
faces.

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a. Construct the discrete probability and draw the histogram.

b. Find P(X ≥ 9).
c. Find P(1 ≤ X ≤ 9).

The mean and the variance of a discrete random variable

The mean is considered as a measure of the central location of a random variable. It

is the weighted average of the values that random can take with heights provided by
the probability distribution.

The mean of the discrete random variable X is also called the expected value of X.
Notationally, the expected value of X is denoted by E(X).

The expected value or mean value of a discrete random variable X can be

computed by first multiplying each possible X value by the probability of observing
that value and then adding the resulting quantities.

E(X) = 𝑋1 ∗ 𝑃 (𝑋1 )+ 𝑋2 ∗ 𝑃 (𝑋2 )+ … 𝑋𝑛 ∗ 𝑃 (𝑋𝑛 )

So, the formula to compute the mean of a discrete random variable is:
E(X) = Σ [ xi * P(xi) ]
where xi is the value of the random variable for outcome i, μ x is the mean of random
variable X, and P(xi) is the probability that the random variable will be outcome i.

Example 1. The probabilities that a customer will buy 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 items in a

3 1 1 2 3
grocery store are 10, 10, 10, 10 and 10 respectively. What is the average number of
items that a customer will buy? Compute the variance and standard deviation of the
probability distribution.

Steps in computing the Mean

1. Construct the probability distribution for the random variable X representing
the number of items that a customer will buy.
2. Multiply the value of the random variable X by the corresponding probability.
3. Add the results obtained in Step 2.

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Example 2. In a recent little league softball game, each player went to bat 4 times.
The number of hits made by each player is described by the following probability
distribution.

Number of hits, X Probability, P(X)

0 0.10

1 0.20

2 0.30

3 0.25

4 0.15

Solution:

Number of hits, X Probability, P(X) X*P(X)

0 0.10 0

1 0.20 0.20

2 0.30 0.60

3 0.25 0.75

4 0.15 0.60

Sum of X*P(X) = 2.15

The mean of the probability distribution is 2.15.

Variance of a Discrete Random Variable X

The variance of a random variable displays the variability or the dispersions of the
random variables. It shows the distance of a random variable from its mean.

It is denoted by 𝜎 2 𝑥 is computed by first subtracting the mean from each possible X

value to obtain the deviations, then squaring each deviation and multiplying the
result by the probability of the corresponding X value, and then finally adding these
quantities.

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Steps in computing the variance and standard deviation.

1. Find the mean of the probability distribution.

2. Subtract the mean from each value of the random variable X.
3. Square the results obtained in Step 2.
4. Multiply the results obtained in Step 3.
5. Get the sum of the results obtained in Step 4.

Activity # 4

1. A men's soccer team plays soccer zero, one, or two days a week. The
probability that they play zero days is 0.2, the probability that they play one
day is 0.5, and the probability that they play two days is 0.3. Find the mean
value or expected value, μ, of the number of days per week the men's soccer
team plays soccer.

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2. In a recent little league softball game, each player went to bat 4 times. The
number of hits made by each player is described by the following probability
distribution. Find the variance and standard deviation of random variable X.

Number of hits, X Probability, P(X)

0 0.10

1 0.20

2 0.30

3 0.25

4 0.15

3. Consider again the example of the number of languages spoken by Australian

school children. Define X to be the number of languages in which a randomly
chosen Australian child attending school can hold an everyday conversation.
Assume that the probability function of X, pX(x), is as shown in the following
table.

x 1 2 3 4 5 6

pX(x) 0.663 0.226 0.066 0.022 0.019 0.004

a. What is the mean of X?

b. Find the variance and standard deviation of X.

Prepared by:

Erwin G. Gonzales
Instructor

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