(Solution) MATH 399N Week 3 Discussion: Statistics and Probability in the News

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

  • Textbook: Chapter 3 (All Sections)
  • Lesson
  • Minimum of 1 scholarly source

Initial Post Instructions

Keep your eyes and ears open as you read or listen to the news this week. Find/discover an example of statistics & probability in the news to discuss the following statement that represents one of the objectives of statistics analysis: “Statistics and Probability helps us make decisions based on data analysis.” Briefly discuss how the news item or article meets this objective. Cite your references. Also, keep in mind and discuss how the impact of your study on your patients or staff might differ if you found it in a journal.

Follow-Up Post Instructions

Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Further the dialogue by providing more information and clarification.

Here are suggested responses.

  1. Make an inference based on the analysis and news piece of a peer.
  2. Find a post where the news piece can be misleading and explain why you think it is misleading.

Writing Requirements

  • Minimum of 3 posts (1 initial & 2 follow-up)
  • APA format for in-text citations and list of references

Solution:

What are your odds of winning the lottery? Who doesn’t love to play the lottery and dream of winning? This is something that gets talked about all the time. When the jackpots have hit high numbers without payout people line up for hours to get a ticket in hopes that they are given or played the winning numbers. The grand prize, sometimes worth several million dollars.

To calculate the probability of winning, there are specific ways to calculate the numbers.

EXAMPLE 1: If you play a game and do pick 5. You pick 5 random numbers from 0-9. The order of these numbers is important, 2345 is different than the choice of 2354 or 2435. The probability of winning this is given by determining the total number of five-digit numbers possible. Since there are 5 numbers and 10 choices for each number, the total number of 5 digits number is  = 100,000. The probability of winning is 1/100,000=0.00001%. These games don’t normally pay out much, you spend $1 to $5000.

Another way of playing and possibly winning is by calculating a combination…

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