This article describes an activity that illustrates contingency table (two-way table) analysis. Students use contingency tables to analyze the "unusual episode" (the sinking of the ocean liner Titanic)data (from Dawson 1995) and attempt to use their analysis to deduce the origin of the data. The activity is appropriate for use in an introductory college statistics course or in a high school AP statistics course. Key words: contingency table (two-way table), conditional distribution
This applet allows a person to add up to 50 points onto its green viewing screen. After each point is added by clicking on the screen with the mouse, a red line will appear. This red line represents a line passing through (Average x, Average y) with a slope that can be altered by clicking the Left or Right buttons. The slope of this line may also be changed by dragging the mouse either right or left. By clicking on Show Best Fit, a blue best fit line will be calculated by the computer.
Gives some background on the Buffon needle problem. Has a link to an applet that allows one to simulate dropping a needle1, 10, 100, or 1000 times. One also has control over the length of the needle.
Poses the following problem: Suppose there was one of six prizes inside your favorite box of cereal. Perhaps it's a pen, a plastic movie character, or a picture card. How many boxes of cereal would you expect to have to buy, to get all six prizes?
Students explore the definition and interpretations of the probability of an event by investigating the long run proportion of times a sum of 8 is obtained when two balanced dice are rolled repeatedly. Making use of hand calculations, computer simulations, and descriptive techniques, students encounter the laws of large numbers in a familiar setting. By working through the exercises, students will gain a deeper understanding of the qualitative and quantitative relationships between theoretical probability and long run relative frequency. Particularly, students investigate the proximity of the relative frequency of an event to its probability and conclude, from data, the order on which the dispersion of the relative frequency diminishes. Key words: probability, law of large numbers, simulation, estimation
Includes project file for Minitab and coding for a dice rolling simulation.
An applet explores the following problem: A long day hiking through the Grand Canyon has discombobulated this tourist. Unsure of which way he is randomly stumbling, 1/3 of his steps are towards the edge of the cliff, while 2/3 of his steps are towards safety. From where he stands, one step forward will send him tumbling down. What is the probability that he can escape unharmed?