Chapter 9: Understanding Randomness

Question 1

Define ‘Random’.

Answer 1

An outcome is random if we know the possible values it can have, but not which particular value it takes.

Question 2

Define ‘Generating random numbers’.

Answer 2

Random numbers are hard to generate. Nevertheless, several Web sites offer an unlimited supply of equally likely random values.

Question 3

Define ‘Simulation’.

Answer 3

A simulation models a real-world situation by using random-digit outcomes to mimic the uncertainty of a response variable of interest.

Question 4

Define ‘Trial’.

Answer 4

The sequence of several components representing events that we are pretending will take place.

Question 5

Define ‘Simulation component’.

Answer 5

A component that uses equally likely random digits to model simple random occurrences whose outcomes may not be equally likely.

Question 6

Define ‘Response variable’.

Answer 6

Values of the response variable record the results of each trial with respect to what we were interested in.