A sociologist randomly selects single adults for different g
A sociologist randomly selects single adults for different groups of four and the random variable x is the number in the group who say that the most fun way to flirt is in person (based on a microsoft instant messaging survey). The ditribution of the data is given below.
A. Is this a probability distribution? Why?
B. What is the mean, and standard deviation for this distribution?
| x | P(x) | 
| 0 | 0.042 | 
| 1 | 0.200 | 
| 2 | 0.367 | 
| 3 | 0.299 | 
| 4 | .0092 | 
Solution
Hi! I think you mean 0.092 in P(4). Otherwise, it will not be a probability distrbution. I assumed P(4) = 0.092. Thanks!
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a)
yes, because the probabilities add up to 1.
b)
Consider:
Thus,      
       
 E(x) = Expected value = mean =    2.199   [ANSWER, MEAN]
Var(x) = E(x^2) - E(x)^2 = 0.995399
Thus,
s(x) = sqrt [Var(x)] = 0.997696848 [ANSWER, STANDARD DEVIATION]
| x | P(x) | x P(x) | x^2 P(x) | 
| 0 | 0.042 | 0 | 0 | 
| 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 
| 2 | 0.367 | 0.734 | 1.468 | 
| 3 | 0.299 | 0.897 | 2.691 | 
| 4 | 0.092 | 0.368 | 1.472 | 

