Discussion: Applications of Probability
Mathematics
Choose one of the following two prompts to respond to. In your two follow up posts, respond at least once to each prompt option. Use the discussion topic as a place to ask questions, speculate about answers, and share insights. Be sure to embed and cite your references for any supporting images.
Option 1:
Given this data set – from the NOAA for Manchester, NH, select a random month between January 1930 and December 1957. Begin with this month and analyze the next 25 data values (i.e. 2 years and 1 month) for the variable “TPCP” (See Second Tab in Data Set for variable descriptions). For example, if May 1955 is chosen as the starting month, then the “TPCP” data would be from May 1955 through May 1957. Using Excel, StatCrunch, etc., construct a histogram to represent your sample. Report the sample mean, median, and standard deviation as a part of your discussion of skewness.
Determine the interval for the middle 68% of your sample data and relate this to the sample standard deviation.
Comment on the similarities and differences between your sample data and that of your classmates. Why are there differences if the samples are drawn from the same population?
Option 2:
Suppose a professor splits their class into two groups: students whose last names begin with A-K and students whose last names begin with L-Z. If p1 and p2 represent the proportion of students who have an iPhone by last name, would you be surprised if p1 did not exactly equal p2?
If we conclude that the first initial of a student’s last name is NOT related to whether the person owns an iPhone, what assumption are we making about the relationship between these two variables?
