Chapter 6: Discrete Probability Distributions

Question 1

probability distribution

Answer 1

a listing of all the outcomes of an experiment and the probability associated with each outcome. sum of all the probabilities equals 1

Question 2

random variable

Answer 2

a quantity resulting from an experiment that, by chance, can assume different values

Question 3

discrete random variable

Answer 3

a random variable that can assume only certain clearly separated values

Question 4

mean of a probability distribution

Answer 4

sum of [xP(x)] where P(x) is the probability of a particular value x. Multiply each x value by its probability of occurrence and add these products

Question 5

binomial probability experiment

Answer 5

1. an outcome on each trial of an experiment is classified into one of two mutually exclusive categories- a success or failure
2. the random variable counts the number of successes in a fixed number of trials
3. the probability of success and failure stay the same for each trial
4. the trials are independent, meaning that the outcome of one trial does not affect the outcome of any other

Question 6

mean of a binomial distribution

Answer 6

= n x pi

Question 7

Poisson probability experiment

Answer 7

1. the random variable is the number of times some event occurs during a defined interval
2. the probability of the event is proportional to the size of the interval
3. the intervals do not overlap and are independent