Comprehensive Study Notes: Probability and the Sampling Distribution of the Sample Mean

Variability and Randomness

• Statistics is fundamentally the study of variability.

• Uncertainty is managed by investigating random behavior.

• Random behavior is characterized by two distinct patterns relative to time:

  • Short-run: Outcomes are unpredictable and appear haphazard.

  • Long-run: Outcomes exhibit a regular, predictable distribution.

• A phenomenon is defined as random if individual outcomes are uncertain, but a stable distribution of outcomes emerges over a large number of repetitions.

• A random experiment is defined as any process or activity involving uncertainty that results in two or more possible outcomes.

• In everyday language, "randomness" is often equated with chaos or haphazard events because we often do not observe the phenomenon enough times to perceive the emerging long-run pattern.

Understanding Probability

• The foundation of probability lies in the fact that regular patterns emerge only after many repeated trials (e.g., rolling dice, tossing coins, or lottery outcomes).

• The Coin Toss Experiment:

  • Assuming a fair coin, the likelihood of observing a Head is equal to observing a Tail (50% chance each).

  • In a sequence like $H, T, T, H, T, H$, the observed proportions of Heads are $1.0, 0.5, 0.33, 0.5, 0.4, 0.5$.

  • Proportions vary significantly in the early stages, but in the long-run, the proportion of Heads will consistently stay very close to $0.5$.

  • Empirical Threshold: If a fair coin is tossed $10,000$ times, it is almost certain that one will observe between $4,800$ and $5,200$ Heads.

• Definition of Probability: The probability of any outcome of a random phenomenon is the proportion of times that specific outcome would occur in an infinitely long series of trials.

• Probability Theory: This branch of mathematics describes random behavior using mathematical models. Because we cannot perform an experiment infinite times, we use models to describe what would happen theoretically.

Proportions vs. Probability

• Proportion: A value that is known or has been observed. It is spoken of in the present tense.

• Probability: A theoretical value representing the proportion after an infinitely long series of trials. It relates to future events.

Probability Models and Sample Spaces

• A probability model consists of two components:

  1. A list of all possible outcomes.

  2. A probability assigned to each outcome.

• The Sample Space ($S$): The set of all possible outcomes for a random phenomenon.

  • Simple Examples:

    • Tossing a coin once: $S = \{H, T\}$.

    • Tossing a coin three times: $S = \{HHH, HHT, HTH, HTT, THH, THT, TTH, TTT\}$.

  • Complex Examples:

    • Lotto 6/49: Choosing six numbers from 49 leads to nearly $14,000,000$ possible combinations.

    • Sports (Valour FC soccer): Considering the next two games ($W$ = Win, $T$ = Tie, $L$ = Loss), the order matters. $S = \{WW, WT, WL, TW, TT, TL, LW, LT, LL\}$. Note that Winning first then Losing ($WL$) is distinct from Losing first then Winning ($LW$).

    • Rolling Two Dice: The sample space contains 36 outcomes ($11, 12, \dots, 66$). If the variable of interest is the sum of the two dice, then $S = \{2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12\}$.

Rules and Probability Distributions

• For a sample space $S = \{O_1, O_2, \dots, O_n\}$, let the probability of individual outcome $O_i$ be denoted as $p_i$.

• Fundamental Conditions:

  1. Each individual probability must be between 0 and 1: $0 \le p_i \le 1$ for all $i = 1, 2, \dots, n$.

  2. The sum of all probabilities must equal exactly 1: $p_1 + p_2 + \dots + p_n = 1$.

• Events:

  • An event is a subset of outcomes from the sample space.

  • Example (Rolling two dice): If event $A$ is "At Least One 4", then $A = \{14, 24, 34, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 54, 64\}$. If event $B$ is "Sum is 9", then $B = \{36, 45, 54, 63\}$.

• Probability of Events: Calculated by adding the probabilities of all individual outcomes contained within that event.

  • Example: P(\text{Sum of dice } > 8) = P(X=9) + P(X=10) + P(X=11) + P(X=12) = \frac{4}{36} + \frac{3}{36} + \frac{2}{36} + \frac{1}{36} = \frac{10}{36} \approx 0.2778.

• Complements ($A^c$): The event containing all outcomes in the sample space not found in $A$.

  • Rule: $P(A^c) = 1 - P(A)$.

  • Examples: $P(\text{Win}) = 1 - P(\text{Tie or Lose})$; $P(\text{Sum } \ge 5) = 1 - P(\text{Sum } \le 4)$.

• Probability Distribution: A table or rule that provides all possible values of a variable and the specific probability for each value.

Random Variables and Calculations

• A random variable ($X$) provides a numerical description of the outcome of a statistical experiment.

• Case Study: NHL Atlantic Division Division Winner:

  • Teams: Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and others.

  • Probabilities: Montreal ($k$, Ottawa ($0.05$), Toronto ($4k$), Team 4 ($2k$), Team 5 ($0.02$), Team 6 ($0.04$), Team 7 ($0.29$), Team 8 ($3k$).

  • Calculation for $k$: $k + 0.05 + 4k + 2k + 0.02 + 0.04 + 0.29 + 3k = 1 \Rightarrow 10k + 0.40 = 1 \Rightarrow 10k = 0.60 \Rightarrow k = 0.06$.

  • Probability a Canadian team wins: $P(\text{Montreal}) + P(\text{Ottawa}) + P(\text{Toronto}) = 0.06 + 0.05 + 4(0.06) = 0.35$.

• Case Study: NHL Pacific Division (Complementary Logic):

  • Probabilities provided: Calgary ($0.08$), Edmonton ($0.27$), Vancouver ($0.09$). Others are incomplete.

  • Probability an American team wins: $1 - P(\text{Canadian team wins}) = 1 - (0.08 + 0.27 + 0.09) = 1 - 0.44 = 0.56$.

Continuous Random Variables

• While discrete random variables (like dice sums or coin counts) take only certain values, continuous random variables can take any value in an interval.

• Sample Space Example: Time for a light bulb to burn out, $S = \{\text{all values of } x \text{ such that } x \ge 0\}$.

• Probability Assignment: Because there are infinitely many outcomes, probabilities are assigned to intervals of values rather than individual points.

• Density Curves: The area under a density curve represents the probability of observing an outcome in that interval.

• Normal Probability Distribution: Denoted as $X \sim N(\mu, \sigma)$, where probabilities correspond to the area under the Normal curve.

• Example (Pulse Rates): Adult females have pulse rates with $\mu = 74\,\text{bpm}$ and $\sigma = 12\,\text{bpm}$.

  • P(X > 57) = P\left(Z > \frac{57 - 74}{12}\right) = P(Z > -1.42) = 1 - P(Z < -1.42) = 1 - 0.0778 = 0.9222.

The Sampling Distribution of the Sample Mean ($\bar{X}$)

• Instead of observing single individuals, researchers often take a Random Sample of size $n$ and calculate the sample mean ($\bar{x}$).

• The Sampling Distribution of a Statistic is the distribution of values taken by that statistic in all possible samples of the same size from the same population.

• Conceptual Experiment:

  • Repeatedly take samples of size $n$ from a population with mean $\mu$ and standard deviation $\sigma$.

  • Calculate $\bar{x}$ for each sample.

  • Plot the histogram of $\bar{x}$ values.

• Key Characteristics of the Distribution of $\bar{X}$:

  1. The mean of the sampling distribution is equal to the population mean ($\mu_{\bar{X}} = \mu$).

  2. The standard deviation (Standard Error) of the sampling distribution is lower than the population standard deviation: $\sigma_{\bar{X}} = \frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}$.

  3. Averages are consistently less variable than individual observations.

The Central Limit Theorem (CLT)

• The Theorem: When taking a Simple Random Sample (SRS) of size $n$ from any population with mean $\mu$ and standard deviation $\sigma$, the sampling distribution of $\bar{X}$ is approximately Normal if $n$ is sufficiently large.

• Notation: $\bar{X} \approx N\left(\mu, \frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}\right)$.

• Significance: The original population distribution does not need to be symmetric or normal. As $n$ increases, the skewness of the original distribution is overcome.

• Sample Size Guidelines:

  • For symmetric distributions, $\bar{X}$ becomes normal at very low $n$.

  • For strongly skewed distributions, a higher $n$ is required.

  • Course Rule: It is safe to apply the CLT when $n \ge 30$.

Practical Examples and R Code

• Male Heights Case Study: Population $X \sim N(178, 6)$.

  • Individual Probability: P(X > 180) = P\left(Z > \frac{180 - 178}{6}\right) = P(Z > 0.33) = 0.3707.

  • Sample Probability ($n=10$): P(\bar{X} > 180) = P\left(Z > \frac{180 - 178}{\frac{6}{\sqrt{10}}}\right) = P(Z > 1.05) \approx 0.1469.

  • R Code for Sample Mean: pnorm(180, 178, 6/sqrt(10), lower.tail = FALSE) yields 0.1459203.

• Light Bulb Lifetimes Case Study:

  • Population is right-skewed with $\mu = 400\,hr$ and $\sigma = 250\,hr$.

  • For $n = 40$ bulbs, calculate the probability the mean lifetime exceeds $450\,hr$.

  • Since $n \ge 30$, use CLT: P(\bar{X} > 450) \approx P\left(Z > \frac{450 - 400}{\frac{250}{\sqrt{40}}}\right) = P(Z > 1.26) = 0.1038.

• Metal Bolts Case Study ($\mu = 1.25\,cm$, $\sigma = 0.05\,cm$):

  • Probability that an SRS of $n = 100$ has a mean diameter between $1.24\,cm$ and $1.26\,cm$.

  • P(1.24 < \bar{X} < 1.26) \approx P\left(\frac{1.24 - 1.25}{\frac{0.05}{\sqrt{100}}} < Z < \frac{1.26 - 1.25}{\frac{0.05}{\sqrt{100}}}\right) = P(-2.00 < Z < 2.00) = 0.9544.

  • Constraint: If we only select $n = 5$ bolts, and the underlying distribution of $X$ is unknown, we cannot calculate the probability because the sample size is too small for the CLT.

Summary Classification for $\bar{X}$

• Scenario 1: Population is Normal:

  • $X \sim N(\mu, \sigma)$.

  • Result: $\bar{X}$ is exactly Normal for any sample size $n$.

• Scenario 2: Population is Not Normal / Unknown:

  • If $n \ge 30$: $\bar{X}$ is approximately Normal by the CLT.

  • If n < 30: $\bar{X}$ is not normal; standard probability techniques cannot be applied.

• Universal Truth: For any distribution, the mean of the sample mean is $\mu$ and the standard deviation is $\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}$.