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Solutions to Practice Problems for Part II

1. A fund manager is considering investment in the stock of a health care provider. The
manager's assessment of probabilities for rates of return on this stock over the next year
are summarized in the accompanying table. Let A be the event "Rate of return will be
more than 10%" and B the event "Rate of return will be negative."
RATE OF
Less than - 10% - 10% to 0% 0% to 10% 10% to 20% More than 20%
RETURN
PROBABILITY .04 .14 .28 .33 .21

a. Find the probability of event A.


P A P 10% to 20% More than 20%
0.33 0.21
0.54
b. Find the probability of event B.
P B P Less than 10% - 10% to 0%
0.04 0.14
0.18
c. Describe the event that is the complement of A.

A is the event in which "Rate of return will be no more than 10%".

d. Find the probability of the complement of A.



P A 1 P A
1 0.54
0.46
e. Describe the event that is the intersection of A and B.

A B is the event in which the rate of return is both more than 10% and less than zero.

Managerial Statistics 217 Prof. Juran


f. Find the probability of the intersection of A and B.

It is impossible for the rate of return both to be more than 10% and less than zero, so:

P A B 0

g. Describe the event that is the union of A and B.

A B is the event in which the rate of return is either more than 10% or less than zero.

h. Find the probability of the union of A and B.


P A B P 10% to 20% more than 20% less than - 10% - 10% to 0%
0.33 0.21 0.04 0.14
0.72
i. Are A and B mutually exclusive?

Yes; they can't both occur at the same time.

j. Are A and B collectively exhaustive?

No. If, for example, the rate of return is 5%, then neither A nor B has occurred.

2. A manager has available a pool of eight employees who could be assigned to a


project-monitoring task. Four of the employees are women and four are men. Two of
the men are brothers. The manager is to make the assignment at random, so that each of
the eight employees is equally likely to be chosen. Let A be the event "chosen employee
is a man" and B the event "chosen employee is one of the brothers."

a. Find the probability of A.


n men
P A
n employees
4

8
0.5

Managerial Statistics 218 Prof. Juran


b. Find the probability of B.
n brothers
P B
n employees
2

8
0.25
c. Find the probability of the intersection of A and B.
n brothers and men
P A B
n employees
2

8
0.25
d. Find the probability of the union of A and B.
n men or brothers
P A B
n employees
4

8
0.5

3. A department store manager has monitored the numbers of complaints received per week
about poor service. The probabilities for numbers of complaints in a week, established by this
review, are shown in the table. Let A be the event "There will be at least one complaint in a
week," and B the event "There will be less than 10 complaints in a week."
NUMBER OF 0 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 More than
COMPLAINTS 12
PROBABILITY .14 .39 .23 .15 .06 .03
a. Find the probability of A.
P A P 1 to 3 4 to 6 7 to 9 10 to 12 more than 12
0.39 0.23 0.15 0.06 0.03
0.86
b. Find the probability of B.
P B P 0 1 to 3 4 to 6 7 to 9
0.14 0.39 0.23 0.15
0.91

Managerial Statistics 219 Prof. Juran


c. Find the probability of the complement of A.
P A 1 P A
1 0.86
0.14
d. Find the probability of the union of A and B.
P A B P 0 1 to 3 4 to 6 7 to 9 10 to 12 more than 12
0.14 0.39 0.23 0.15 0.06 0.03
1.0
e. Find the probability of the intersection of A and B.
P A B P 1 to 3 4 to 6 7 to 9
0.39 0.23 0.15
0.77
f. Are A and B mutually exclusive?

No. As we can see in (e), P A B 0 . Mutually exclusive means they can't both
happen at the same time. If the probability of A intersect B is zero, then A and B are
mutually exclusive. If the probability of A intersect B is more than zero, then A and B
are not mutually exclusive.

g. Are A and B collectively exhaustive?

Yes. As we can see in (d), P A B 1.0 . Collectively exhaustive means that at least one
must happen. If the probability of A union B is 100%, then A and B are collectively
exhaustive. If the probability of A union B is anything less than 100%, then A and B are
not collectively exhaustive.

4. A local public-action group solicits donations by telephone. For a particular list of


prospects, it was estimated that for any individual, the probability was .05 of an
immediate donation by credit card, .25 of no immediate donation but a request for
further information through the mail, and .7 of no expression of interest. Mailed
information is sent to all people requesting it, and it is estimated that 20% of these
people will eventually donate. An operator makes a sequence of calls, the outcomes of
which can be assumed to be independent.

Managerial Statistics 220 Prof. Juran


a. What is the probability that no immediate credit card donation will be received
until at least four unsuccessful calls have been made?

Note that there are three events that can result from a phone call:
Event Definition Probability
A Immediate Donation 0.05
B Request for Info 0.25
C Not Interested 0.70
Assume that "unsuccessful" means anything other than an immediate donation, an
event symbolized as A .The probability that "no immediate credit card donation will be
received until at least four unsuccessful calls have been made" can be restated as the
probability that A happens on the four phone calls in a row.

P A four times in a row
P A P A P A P A
1 P A 4

0.95 4
0.8145

b. What is the probability that the first call leading to any donation (either
immediately or eventually after a mailing) is preceded by at least four unsuccessful
calls?

Note that there are two possible events that can result from a mailing:
Event Definition Probability
D DonationMailing 0.20
E No DonationMailing 0.80
Also, the probability of a donation (either immediately or eventually after a mailing) is

P Donation P A D 0.05 0.20 0.25 0.10


P A D four times in a row 1 P A D 4
0.9 4
0.6561

Managerial Statistics 221 Prof. Juran


5. A mail-order firm considers three possible foul-ups in filling an order:
A: The wrong item is sent.
B: The item is lost in transit.
C: The item is damaged in transit.
Assume that event A is independent of both B and C and that events B and C are
mutually exclusive. The individual event probabilities are P(A) = .02, P(B) = .01, and
P(C) = .04. Find the probability that at least one of these foul-ups occurs for a randomly
chosen order.

One way to solve this is to set up a diagram, in which the shaded area represents orders
with no foul-ups:
BC BC BC
(Lost) (Damaged) (Not Lost or Damaged)
A (Correct Item) 0.0098 0.0392 0.9310 0.9800
A (Incorrect Item) 0.0002 0.0008 0.0190 0.0200
0.0100 0.0400 0.9500
Using the diagram, the probability of an order with at least one foul-up is
1 0.931 0.069 . Alternatively, we can use our probability formulae:
P A B C
P A P B P C P A B C P A B C P A B C P A B C
0.0200 0.0100 0.0400 0.0000 0.0002 0.0008 0.0000
0.0690

Managerial Statistics 222 Prof. Juran


6. Market research in a particular city indicated that during a week 18% of all adults
watch a television program oriented to business and financial issues, 12% read a
publication oriented to these issues, and 10% do both.

a. What is the probability that an adult in this city, who watches a television program
oriented to business and financial issues, reads a publication oriented to these
issues?

Let us define the following events:


Event Definition Probability
W Watches Television Program 0.18
R Reads Publication 0.12
W R Both Watches and Reads 0.10
Now we can construct a diagram:
W W
(Watches) (Doesn't Watch)
R (Reads) 0.1 0.02 0.12
R (Doesn't Read) 0.08 0.80 0.88
0.18 0.82

P W R
P RW
P W
0.10

0.18
0.5556
b. What is the probability that an adult in this city, who reads a publication oriented to business
and financial issues, watches a television program oriented to these issues?
P R W
P W R
P R
0.10

0.12
0.8333

Managerial Statistics 223 Prof. Juran


7. An inspector examines items coming from an assembly line. A review of her record
reveals that she accepts only 8% of all defective items. It was also found that 1% of all
items from the assembly line are both defective and accepted by the inspector. What is
the probability that a randomly chosen item from this assembly line is defective?

Let us define the following events:


Event Definition Probability
AD Accepts, given Defective 0.08
A D Accepted and Defective 0.01

P A D
Bayes' Law: P A D
P D
Therefore:
P A D
P A D
P D
0.01
0.08
P D
0.08 P D 0.01
0.01
P D
0.08
0.125

Managerial Statistics 224 Prof. Juran


8. A bank classifies borrowers as high-risk or low-risk. Only 15% of its loans are made
to those in the high-risk category. Of all its loans, 5% are in default, and 40% of those in
default are to high-risk borrowers. What is the probability that a high-risk borrower will
default?

Let us define the following events:


Event Definition Probability
H High-Risk 0.15
D In Default 0.05
H D High-Risk, given In Default 0.40
Using Bayes' Law:
P H D
P H D
P D
P H D
0.40
0.05
0.40 0.05 P H D
0.02 P H D
This gives us enough information to construct a diagram:
H H
(High-Risk) (Not High-Risk)
D (In Default) 0.02 0.03 0.05
D (Not In Default) 0.13 0.82 0.95
0.15 0.85
Now apply Bayes' Law again:
P D H
P D H
P H
0.02

0.15
0.1333

Managerial Statistics 225 Prof. Juran


9. A quality control manager found that 30% of worker-related problems occurred on
Mondays, and that 20% occurred in the last hour of a day's shift. It was also found that
4% of worker-related problems occurred in the last hour of Monday's shift.

a. What is the probability that a worker-related problem that occurs on a Monday


does not occur in the last hour of the day's shift?

Let us define the following events:


Event Definition Probability
M Problem on Monday 0.30
L Problem in Last Hour 0.20
L Problem Not in Last Hour 0.80
M L Problem on Monday in Last Hour 0.04
ML Problem on Monday Not in Last Hour 0.26
Using Bayes' Law:

P LM

P M L
P M
0.26

0.30
0.867

b. Are the events "Problem occurs on Monday" and "Problem occurs in the last hour
of the day's shift" statistically independent?

If these events were statistically independent, then the probability of a Monday problem
being in the last hour (which is 1 - 0.867 = 0.133 in our case) would be the same as the
probability of being in the last hour on all days (which is 0.80). Since these two
probabilities are different, then "Problem occurs on Monday" and "Problem occurs in
the last hour of the day's shift" are not statistically independent.

Stated mathematically:
P L M P L

Managerial Statistics 226 Prof. Juran


10. A lawn care service makes telephone solicitations, seeking customers for the coming
season. A review of the records indicated that 15% of these solicitations produced new
customers, and that, of these new customers, 80% had used some rival service in the
previous year. It was also estimated that, of all solicitation calls made, 60% were to
people who had used a rival service the previous year. What is the probability that a
call to a person who used a rival service the previous year will produce a new customer
for the lawn care service?

Let us define the following events:


Event Definition Probability
N Solicited Person Becomes New Customer 0.15
RN Customer Used Rival, Given Customer is New 0.80
R Used Rival 0.60
Using Bayes' Law:
P N R
P R N
P N
P N R

0.80
0.15
0.12 P N R
Now to solve the real question:
P N R
P N R
P R
0.12

0.60
0.20

Managerial Statistics 227 Prof. Juran


11. A survey carried out for a supermarket classified customers according to whether their visits to the store are
frequent or infrequent and to whether they often, sometimes, or never purchase generic products. The accompanying
table gives the proportions of people surveyed in each of the six joint classifications.
Frequency of Visit Purchase of Generic Products
OFTEN SOMETIMES NEVER
Frequent .12 .48 .19
Infrequent .07 .06 .08
a. What is the probability that a customer is both a frequent shopper and often purchases
generic products?
P F O 0.12
b. What is the probability that a customer who never buys generic products visits the store
frequently?
P F N
P F N
P N
0.19

0.19 0.08
0.7037
c. Are the events "Never buys generic products" and "Visits the store frequently"
independent?

If they were independent, then P N P N F . However:


P N 0.19 0.08
0.27

P N F
P N F
P F
0.19

0.12 0.48 0.19
0.2405
Therefore, they are not independent.

Managerial Statistics 228 Prof. Juran


d. What is the probability that a customer who infrequently visits the store often buys generic
products?

P O F

P O F
P F
0.07

0.07 0.06 0.08
0.3333
e. Are the events "Often buys generic products" and "Visits the store infrequently"
independent?

If they were independent, then P O P O F . However:


P O 0.12 0.07
0.19



P O F

P O F
P F
0.07

0.07 0.06 0.08
0.3333
Therefore, they are not independent.

f. What is the probability that a customer frequently visits the store?

P F 0.12 0.48 0.19 0.79

g. What is the probability that a customer never buys generic products?

P N 0.19 0.08 0.27

h. What is the probability that a customer either frequently visits the store or never
buys generic products, or both?

P F N 0.12 0.48 0.19 0.08 0.87

Managerial Statistics 229 Prof. Juran


12. An analyst attempting to predict a corporation's earnings next year believes that the
corporation's business is quite sensitive to the level of interest rates. She believes that if
average rates in the next year are more than 1% higher than this year, the probability of
significant earnings growth is 0.1. If average rates next year are more than 1% lower
than this year, the probability of significant earnings growth is estimated to be 0.8.
Finally, if average interest rates next year are within 1% of this year's rates, the
probability for significant earnings growth is put at 0.5. The analyst estimates that the
probability is 0.25 that rates next year will be more than 1% higher than this year, and
0.15 that they will be more than 1% lower than this year.

a. What is the estimated probability that both interest rates will be more than 1%
higher and significant earnings growth will result?

Let us define the following events:


Event Definition Probability
H Rates more than 1% Higher 0.25
M Rates within 1% 0.60
L Rates more than 1% Lower 0.15
G Significant Earnings Growth
G H 0.10
G L 0.80
G M 0.50
We can rearrange Bayes' Law as follows:
P H G P G H P H
0.10 0.25
0.025
b. What is the probability this corporation will experience significant earnings growth?
P G P H G P M G P L G
0.025 P G M P M P G L P L
0.025 0.50 0.60 0.80 0.15
0.025 0.30 0.12
0.445

Managerial Statistics 230 Prof. Juran


c. If the corporation exhibits significant earnings growth, what is the probability that interest
rates will have been more than 1% lower than in the current year?
P L G
P L G
P G
0.12

0.445
0.2697

13. A manufacturer produces boxes of candy, each containing ten pieces. Two machines
are used for this purpose. After a large batch has been produced, it is discovered that
one of the machines, which produces 40% of the total output, has a fault that has led to
the introduction of an impurity into 10% of the pieces of candy it makes. From a single
box of candy, one piece is selected at random and tested. If that piece contains no
impurity, what is the probability that the box from which it came was produced by the
faulty machine?

Lets define the following events:


Event Definition Probability
I Piece Contains Impurity
F Piece came from Faulty Machine 0.40
I F 0.10



P F I

P F I
P I


P F P I F

P F I P F I


P F P I F
P F P I F P F P I F
0.40 0.90

0.40 0.90 0.60 1.00
0.36

0.36 0.60
0.375

Managerial Statistics 231 Prof. Juran


Heres how to do it with a 2x2 box:
Faulty Machine Not Faulty Machine
Impurity 0.04 0.00 0.04
No Impurity 0.36 0.60 0.96
0.40 0.60

1. Get the 0.40 and 0.60 at the bottom of the two columns.
2. Put a zero for P I F because the non-faulty machine produces no impurities.
3. That means P I F has to be 0.60 (so the right column will add up).
4. 10% of the output from the faulty machine has impurities, so P I F must be
0.04.
5. That means P I F has to be 0.36 (so the left column will add up).
6. The bottom row adds across to a total of 0.96.
7. The question is, if we are in the bottom row (no impurity), what is the chance we
are in the left column (faulty machine)?

Managerial Statistics 232 Prof. Juran


14. A student feels that 70% of his college courses have been enjoyable and the
remainder have been boring. He has access to student evaluations of professors and
finds that 60% of his enjoyable courses and 25% of his boring courses have been taught
by professors who had previously received strong positive evaluations from their
students. Next semester the student decides to take three courses, all from professors
who have received strongly positive student evaluations. Assume that his reactions to
the three courses are independent of one another.

a. What is the probability that he will find all three courses enjoyable?

Let us define the following events:


Event Definition Probability
PV Professor got Positive Evaluation
E Student will find the Course Enjoyable 0.70
PV E 0.60
PV E 0.75

P E PV
P E PV
P PV
P PV E P E


P PV E P PV E
P PV E P E


P PV E P E P PV E P E
0.60 0.70

0.60 0.70 0.25 0.30
0.42

0.42 0.075
0.8485

Managerial Statistics 233 Prof. Juran


Note that the number of courses the student finds enjoyable (call this number X) is a
binomially distributed random variable, with n = 3 and p = 0.8485.
n
P X x p x 1 p n x
x
3
P X 3 p 3
1 p 0
3
3!
0.8485 3 0.1515 0
3! 3 3 !
1 0.6108 1
0.6108
b. What is the probability that he will find at least one of the courses enjoyable?
P at least one is enjoyable 1 P none are enjoyable
1 P X 0
3!
1 0.8485 0 0.1515 3
0! 3 0 !
1 1 1 .0035
0.9965

15. In a large corporation, 80% of the employees are men and 20% are women. The
highest levels of education obtained by the employees are graduate training for 10% of
the men, undergraduate training for 30% of the men, and high school training for 60%
of the men. The highest levels of education obtained are also graduate training for 15%
of the women, undergraduate training for 40% of the women, and high school training
for 45% of the women.
Let us define the following events:
Event Definition Probability
F Employee is Female 0.20
G Employee has Graduate Training
U Employee has Undergraduate Training
H Employee has High School Training
G F 0.15
U F 0.40
H F 0.45
G F 0.10
U F 0.30
H F 0.60

Managerial Statistics 234 Prof. Juran


a. What is the probability that a randomly chosen employee will be a man with only a high
school education?
P F H P H F P F

0.60 0.80
0.48
b. What is the probability that a randomly chosen employee will have graduate training?
P G P F G P F G
P G F P F P G F P F
0.15 0.20 0.10 0.80
0.03 0.08
0.11
c. What is the probability that a randomly chosen employee who has graduate training is a
man?


P F G

P F G
P G

P G F P F

0.11
0.10 0.80

0.11
0.7273
d. Are sex and level of education of employees in this corporation statistically
independent?

No, because:
0.08 0.088

P F G
P F P G

Managerial Statistics 235 Prof. Juran


e. What is the probability that a randomly chosen employee who has not had graduate training
is a woman?



P F G

P F G
P G
P F P F G

1 P G
0.20 P F P G F

1 0.11
0.20 0.20 0.15

0.89
0.17

0.89
0.191
Note that all of these questions can be answered with a diagram:
G U H
Female 0.030 0.080 0.090 0.200
Male 0.080 0.240 0.480 0.800
0.110 0.320 0.570

Managerial Statistics 236 Prof. Juran


16. A large corporation organized a ballot for all its workers on a new bonus plan. It
was found that 65% of all night-shift workers favored the plan and that 40% of all
women workers favored the plan. Also, 50% of all employees are night-shift workers,
and 30% of all employees are women. Finally, 20% of the night-shift workers are
women.
Let us define the following events:
Event Definition Probability
F Employee is Female 0.30
B Employee Favors Bonus Plan
N Employee Works the Night Shift 0.50
B N 0.65
B F 0.40
F N 0.20
a. What is the probability that a randomly chosen employee is a woman in favor of the plan?
P F B P F P B F
0.30 0.40
0.12
b. What is the probability that a randomly chosen employee is either a woman or a night-shift
worker (or both)?
P F N P F P N P F N
0.30 0.50 0.50 0.20
0.70
c. Is employee sex independent of whether the night-shift is worked?

No because P F P F N .

d. What is the probability that a woman employee is a night-shift worker?


P N F
P N F
P F
P F N P N

P F
0.20 0.50

0.30
0.3333

Managerial Statistics 237 Prof. Juran


e. If 50% of all male employees favor the plan, what is the probability that a randomly chosen
employee both does not work the night-shift and does not favor the plan?

P N B 1 P N B
1 P N P B P N B
1 0.50 P B F P F P B F P F P B N P N
1 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.50 0.70 0.65 0.50
1 0.50 0.47 0.325
0.355

17. Subscriptions to American History Illustrated are classified as gift, previous renewal,
direct mail, or subscription service. In January 1979, 8% of expiring subscriptions were
gift; 41%, previous renewal; 6%, direct mail; and 45% subscription service. The
percentages of renewals in these four categories were 81%, 79%, 60%, and 21%,
respectively. In February 1979, 10% of expiring subscriptions were gift; 57%, previous
renewal; 24%, direct mail; and 9% subscription service. The percentages of renewals
were 80%, 76%, 51%, and 14%, respectively.
a. Find the probability that a randomly chosen subscription expiring in January 1979
was renewed.

For January:

P Re newal P R G P G P R E P E P R D P D P R S P S

0.81 0.08 0.79 0.41 0.60 0.06 0.21 0.45

0.5192

b. Find the probability that a randomly chosen subscription expiring in February 1979
was renewed.

For February:

P Re newal P R G P G P R E P E P R D P D P R S P S

0.80 0.10 0.76 0.57 0.51 0.24 0.14 0.09

0.6482

Managerial Statistics 238 Prof. Juran


c. Verify that the probability in part (b) is higher than that in part (a). Do you believe
that the editors of American History Illustrated should view the change from January
to February as a positive or negative development?

This is not a positive development, even though the probability of a renewal increased.
The increase is due to a change in the mix of expiring subscriptions. A larger share of
gift and previous renewal subscriptions expired; these types of subscriptions have a
higher probability of being renewed than direct mail or subscription service. Note that,
for each category, the probability of a renewal went down from January to February.

18. The accompanying table shows, for 1,000 forecasts of earnings per share made by financial analysts, the
numbers of forecasts and outcomes in particular categories (compared with the previous year).
Outcome Forecast
Improvement About the Same Worse
Improvement 210 82 66
About the Same 106 153 75
Worse 75 84 149
a. Find the probability that if the forecast is for a worse performance in earnings, this outcome will result.

P W FW
P W FW
P FW

0.149

0.29

0.5138

b. If the forecast is for an improvement in earnings, find the probability that this outcome fails to result.


P I FI

P I FI
P FI

0.181

0.391

0.4629

Managerial Statistics 239 Prof. Juran


19. A corporation produces packages of paper clips. The number of clips per package
varies, as indicated in the accompanying table.
NUMBER OF CLIPS 47 48 49 50 51 52 53
PROPORTION OF PACKAGES .04 .13 .21 .29 .20 .10 .03
a. Draw the probability function.

Probability Function

0.350

0.300

0.250

0.200
Proportion

0.150

0.100

0.050

0.000
47 48 49 50 51 52 53
Number of Clips per Box

b. Calculate and draw the cumulative probability function.

Cumulative Probability Function

1.000

0.900

0.800

0.700

0.600
Cum. Probability

0.500

0.400

0.300

0.200

0.100

0.000
47 48 49 50 51 52 53
Number of Clips per Box

Managerial Statistics 240 Prof. Juran


c. What is the probability that a randomly chosen package will contain between 49 and 51
clips (inclusive)?
P 49 X 51 P X 49 P X 50 P X 51
0.21 0.29 0.20
0.70
d. Two packages are chosen at random. What is the probability that at least one of them
contains at least fifty clips?
P at least one 50 1 P none 50
1 P X 50 2
1 0.04 0.13 0.21 2
0.8556

20. Refer to the information in Exercise 19.

a. Find the mean and standard deviation of the number of paper clips per package.
Lets use Excel:
A B C D E F G H I
1 Calculations for Expected Value
2 NUMBER OF CLIPS PROPORTION OF PACKAGES =A3*B3
3 47 0.04 1.88
4 48 0.13 6.24
5 49 0.21 10.29
6 50 0.29 14.5
7 51 0.2 10.2
8 52 0.1 5.2
9 53 0.03 1.59 =SUM(C3:C9)
10 49.9 Expected Value
11
12
13 Calculations for Variance Error Error^2 Prob. D*E
14 47 49.9 -2.9 8.41 0.04
=C15*C15 0.3364
15 48 49.9 -1.9 3.61 0.13 0.4693
16 49 49.9 -0.9 0.81 0.21 0.1701 =E17*D17
17 50 49.9 0.1 0.01 0.29 0.0029
18 51 49.9 1.1 1.21 0.2 0.242
19 52 49.9 2.1 4.41 0.1 0.441
20 53 49.9 3.1 9.61 0.03 0.2883 =SUM(F14:F20)
21 1.95 Variance
22 =SQRT(F21)
23 1.396424 Std. Dev.

Managerial Statistics 241 Prof. Juran


b. The cost (in cents) of producing a package of clips is 16 + 2X, where X is the
number of clips in the package. The revenue from selling the package, however
many clips it contains, is $1.50. If profit is defined as the difference between
revenue and cost, find the mean and standard deviation of profit per package.

Recall the Linear Transformation Rule: If X is a random variable, and Y is a random


variable such that in all cases Y = aX + b (for any numbers a and b). Then,
Expected Value E(Y) = aE(X) + b,
Variance Var(Y) = a2 Var(X),
Standard Deviation (Y) = |a|(X).
In this case,

Profit $0.02 # of clips $1.50 0.16

E Pr ofit 0.02 E clips 1.34

0.02 49.9 1.34

0.342

profit 0.02 1.3964

0.0279

Managerial Statistics 242 Prof. Juran


21. A college basketball player, who sinks 75% of his free throws, comes to the line to
shoot a "one and one" (if the first shot is successful, he is allowed a second shot, but no
second shot is taken if the first is missed; one point is scored for each successful shot).
Assume that the outcome of the second shot, if any, is independent of that of the first.
Find the expected number of points resulting from the "one and one." Compare this
with the expected number of points from a "two-shot foul," where a second shot is
allowed irrespective of the outcome of the first.

First the one and one:


E X 0 P miss 1st 1 P make 1st, miss 2nd 2 P make 2 shots in a row
0 0.25 1 0.75 0.25 2 0.75 0.75
0 0.1875 1.125
1.3125
Now, the two-shot foul:
E X 0 P miss 2 1 P make 1st, miss 2nd 1 P miss 1st, make 2nd 2 P make 2
0 0.25 0.25 1 0.75 0.25 1 0.25 0.75 2 0.75 0.75
0 0.1875 0.1875 1.125
1.5

Managerial Statistics 243 Prof. Juran


22. A store owner stocks an out-of-town newspaper, which is sometimes requested by a small
number of customers. Each copy of this newspaper costs him 70 cents, and he sells them for 90
cents each. Any copies left over at the end of the day have no value and are destroyed. Any
requests for copies that cannot be met because stocks have been exhausted are considered by the
store owner as a loss of 5 cents in goodwill. The probability distribution of the number of
requests for the newspaper in a day is shown in the accompanying table. If the store owner
defines total daily profit as total revenue from newspaper sales, less total cost of newspapers
ordered, less goodwill loss from unsatisfied demand, how many copies per day should he order
to maximize expected profit?
NUMBER OF REQUESTS 0 1 2 3 4 5
PROBABILITY .12 .16 .18 .32 .14 .08
Let R be the number of requests (a random variable), and S be the number of papers
stocked (a decision variable). Using Excel, we can create the following contingency
table, in which the profit is shown for all possible combinations of S and R.
R= 0 1 2 3 4 5
PROBABILITY 0.12 0.16 0.18 0.32 0.14 0.08
S=0 $0.00 ($0.05) ($0.10) ($0.15) ($0.20) ($0.25)
1 ($0.70) $0.20 $0.15 $0.10 $0.05 $0.00
2 ($1.40) ($0.50) $0.40 $0.35 $0.30 $0.25
3 ($2.10) ($1.20) ($0.30) $0.60 $0.55 $0.50
4 ($2.80) ($1.90) ($1.00) ($0.10) $0.80 $0.75
5 ($3.50) ($2.60) ($1.70) ($0.80) $0.10 $1.00
Now, by adding up all of the possible profit levels for each value of S, weighted by their
probabilities, we can determine the expected profit for each option. For example, the expected profit assuming we
order zero papers is:
E X S 0 0.12 0.00 0.16 0.05 0.18 0.10 0.32 0.15 0.14 0.20 0.08 0.25
0.00 0.008 0.018 0.048 0.028 0.020
0.122
Performing the same calculations for all values of S, we can see that the best choice is to order one
newspaper:
S E(X)
0 ($0.122)
1 $0.014
2 ($0.002)
3 ($0.189)
4 ($0.680)
5 ($1.304)

Managerial Statistics 244 Prof. Juran


23. An investor is considering three strategies for a $1,000 investment. The probable
returns are estimated as follows:

Strategy 1: A profit of $10,000 with probability 0.15 and a loss of $1,000 with probability
0.85.

Strategy 2: A profit of $1,000 with probability 0.50, a profit of $500 with probability 0.30,
and a loss of $500 with probability 0.20.

Strategy 3: A certain profit of $400.

Which strategy has the highest expected profit? Would you necessarily advise the investor to adopt
this strategy?
E X 1 10 , 000 0.15 1 , 000 0.85
650
E X 2 1 , 000 0.50 500 0.30 500 0.20
550
E X3 400
Strategy 1 has the highest expected value, but is also the riskiest. Therefore, it might not
necessarily be the best strategy for everyone.

Managerial Statistics 245 Prof. Juran


24. The accompanying table shows, for credit card holders with one to three cards, the
joint probabilities for number of cards owned (X) and number of credit purchases made
in a week (Y).
Number of Cards (X) Number of Purchases in Week (Y)
0 1 2 3 4
1 0.08 0.13 0.09 0.06 0.03
2 0.03 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.07
3 0.01 0.03 0.06 0.08 0.08
a. For a randomly chosen person from this group, what is the probability function for number
of purchases made in the week?
P Y 0 0.08 0.03 0.01 0.12
P Y 1 0.13 0.08 0.03 0.24
P Y 2 0.09 0.08 0.06 0.23
P Y 3 0.06 0.09 0.08 0.23
P Y 4 0.03 0.07 0.08 0.18
b. For a person in this group who has three cards, what is the probability function for
number of purchases made in the week?

Note that the probability that a person has 3 cards is:


P X 3 0.01 0.03 0.06 0.08 0.08
0.26
Now, using the conditional probability formula (Bayes' Law):
P Y 0 X 3 0.01
P Y 0 X 3 0.0385
P X 3 0.26
P Y 1 X 3 0.03
P Y 1 X 3 0.1154
P X 3 0.26
P Y 2 X 3 0.06
P Y 2 X 3 0.2308
P X 3 0.26
P Y 3 X 3 0.08
P Y 3 X 3 0.3077
P X 3 0.26
P Y 4 X 3 0.08
P Y 4 X 3 0.3077
P X 3 0.26
c. Are the number of cards owned and number of purchases made statistically
independent?

No, as we can see by comparing the extreme right columns of the two tables shown in
(a) and (b) above. Knowing X has an effect on our predictions about Y.

Managerial Statistics 246 Prof. Juran


25. A market researcher wants to determine whether a new model of a personal computer, which
had been advertised on a late-night talk show, had achieved more brand name recognition among
people who watched the show regularly than among people who did not. After conducting a
survey, it was found that 15% of all people both watched the show regularly and could correctly
identify the product. Also, 16% of all people regularly watched the show and 45% of all people
could correctly identify the product. Define a pair of random variables as follows:
1 if regularly watch the show
X
0 otherwise
1 if product correctly identified
Y
0 otherwise

a. Find the joint probability function of X and Y


X
Y 0 1 Total
0 0.54 0.01 0.55
1 0.30 0.15 0.45
Total 0.84 0.16 1.00
b. Find the conditional probability function of Y, given X = 1.
P Y 0 X 1 0.01
P Y 0 X 1 0.0625
P X 1 0.16
P Y 1 X 1 0.15
P Y 1 X 1 0.9375
P X 1 0.16

Managerial Statistics 247 Prof. Juran


26. A production manager knows that 5% of components produced by a particular
manufacturing process have some defect. Six of these components, whose
characteristics can be assumed to be independent of each other, were examined.

a. What is the probability that none of these components has a defect?

6
P X 0 0.05 0 0.95 6
0
1 1 0.7351
0.7351
b. What is the probability that one of these components has a defect?

6
P X 1 0.05 1 0.95 5
1
6 0.05 0.7738
0.2321
c. What is the probability that at least two of these components have a defect?
P X 2 1 P X 1
1 P X 1 P X 0
1 0.2321 0.7351
0.0328

Managerial Statistics 248 Prof. Juran


27. Suppose that the probability is .5 that the value of the U.S. dollar will rise against the
Japanese yen over any given week, and that the outcome in one week is independent of
that in any other week. What is the probability that the value of the U.S. dollar will rise
against the Japanese yen in a majority of weeks over a period of 7 weeks?

Let X be the number of weeks when the dollar rises against the yen. X is binomially
distributed with n = 7 and p = 0.5.
P X 4 P X 4 P X 5 P X 6 P X 7
7 7 7 7
0.5 4 0.5 3 0.5 5 0.5 2 0.5 6 0.5 1 0.5 7 0.5 0
4 5 6 7
35 0.0625 0.125 21 0.0313 0.25 7 0.0156 0.5 1 0.0078 1.0
0.2734 0.1641 0.0547 0.0078
0.5

28. A company installs new central heating furnaces, and has found that for 15% of all
installations a return visit is needed to make some modifications. Six installations were
made in a particular week. Assume independence of outcomes for these installations.

a. What is the probability that a return visit was needed in all of these cases?

6
P X 6 0.15 6 0.85 0
6
1 0.0000114 1
0.0000114
b. What is the probability that a return visit was needed in none of these cases?

6
P X 0 0.15 0 0.85 6
0
1 1 0.3771
0.3771
c. What is the probability that a return visit was needed in more than one of these cases?

P X 1 1 P X 0 P X 1
6
1 0.3771 0.15 1 0.85 5
1
1 0.3771 6 0.15 .4437
1 0.3771 0.3993
0.2236

Managerial Statistics 249 Prof. Juran


29. A small commuter airline flies planes that can seat up to eight passengers. The
airline has determined that the probability that a ticketed passenger will not show up
for a flight is 0.2. For each flight, the airline sells tickets to the first ten people placing
orders. The probability distribution for the number of tickets sold per flight is shown in
the accompanying table. For what proportion of the airline's flights does the number of
ticketed passengers showing up exceed the number of available seats? (Assume
independence between number of tickets sold and the probability that a ticketed
passenger will show up.)
NUMBER OF TICKETS 6 7 8 9 10
PROBABILITY 0.25 0.35 0.25 0.10 .05
Let X be the number of reservations, and Y the number who actually show up.
P overbooking P X 9 P Y 8 given X 9 P X 10 P Y 8 given X 10
9 10 10
0.10 0.8 9 0.2 0 0.05 0.8 9 0.2 1 0.8 10 0.2 0
9 9 10
0.10 1 0.1342 1 0.05 10 0.1342 0.2 1 0.1074 1
0.01342 0.05 0.2684 0.1074
0.0322

30. An automobile dealer mounts a new promotional campaign, in which it is promised


that purchasers of new automobiles may, if dissatisfied for any reason, return them
within two days of purchase and receive a full refund. It is estimated that the cost to the
dealer of such a refund is $250. The dealer estimates that 15% of all purchasers will
indeed return automobiles and obtain refunds. Suppose that fifty automobiles are
purchased during the campaign period.

a. Find the mean and standard deviation of the number of these automobiles that will be returned for refunds.

X np
50 0.15
7.5

X n p
1 p
50 0.15 0.85
2.525
b. Find the mean and standard deviation of the total refund costs that will accrue as a result of these fifty
purchases.
$ $250 7.5
$1 , 875.00

Managerial Statistics 250 Prof. Juran


$ $250 2.525
$631.23

31. A company receives a very large shipment of components. A random sample of


sixteen of these components is checked, and the shipment is accepted if fewer than two
of these components are defective. What is the probability of accepting a shipment
containing:

a. 5% defectives?

Note that we accept a shipment if it has either zero or one defective components. The probability of accepting with
5% defective is:
P accept P X 0 P X 1
16 16
0.05 0 0.95 16 0.05 1 0.95 15
0 1
1 1 0.4401 16 0.05 0.4633
0.4401 0.3706
0.8107
b. 15% defectives?
P accept P X 0 P X 1
16 16
0.15 0 0.85 16 0.15 1 0.85 15
0 1
1 1 0.0743 16 0.15 0.0874
0.0743 0.2098
0.2841
c. 25% defectives?
P accept P X 0 P X 1
16 16
0.25 0 0.75 16 0.25 1 0.75 15
0 1
1 1 0.0100 16 0.25 0.0134
0.0100 0.0536
0.0636

Managerial Statistics 251 Prof. Juran


32. In the past several years, credit card companies have made an aggressive effort to
solicit new accounts from college students. Suppose that a sample of 200 students at
your college indicated the following information as to whether the student possessed a
bank credit card and/or a travel and entertainment credit card:
Travel and Entertainment
Credit Card
Bank Credit Card Yes No
Yes 60 60
No 15 65
(a) Give an example of a simple event.

Let us define these events:


Event Symbol
Student has a Bank Credit card B
Student does not have a Bank Credit card B
Student has a Travel and Entertainment card T
Student does not have a Travel and Entertainment card T
There are four simple events:

Student has a Bank Credit card ( B )

Student does not have a Bank Credit card ( B )

Student has a Travel and Entertainment card ( T )

Student does not have a Travel and Entertainment card ( T )

(b) Give an example of a joint event.

There are four joint events:

Student has a Bank Credit card and has a Travel and Entertainment card ( B T )

Student has a Bank Credit card and does not have a Travel and Entertainment
card ( B T )

Student does not have a Bank Credit card and has a Travel and Entertainment
card ( B T )

Student does not have a Bank Credit card and does not have a Travel and
Entertainment card ( B T )

(c) What is the complement of having a bank credit card?

Managerial Statistics 252 Prof. Juran


It is the event of NOT having a bank credit card ( B ).

(d) Why is "having a bank credit card and having a travel and entertainment credit
card" a joint event?

It is a joint event because it requires two events to both be true.


Here is a probability table, for answering the rest of the questions:
T T
B 0.300 0.300 0.600
B 0.075 0.325 0.400
0.375 0.625
If a student is selected at random, what is the probability that

(e) the student has a bank credit card?

P B 0.6

(f) the student has a travel and entertainment credit card?

P T 0.375

(g) the student has a bank credit card and a travel and entertainment card?

P B T 0.3

(h) the student has neither a bank credit card nor a travel and entertainment card?


P B T 0.325

(i) the student has a bank credit card or has a travel and entertainment card?

P B T P B P T P B T

0.6 0.375 0.3

0.675

(j) the student does not have a bank credit card or has a travel and entertainment card?


P B T
P B P T P B T
0.4 0.375 0.075

0.7

Managerial Statistics 253 Prof. Juran


33. A company has made available to its employees (without charge) extensive health
club facilities that may be used before work, during the lunch hour, after work, and on
weekends. Records for the last year indicate that of 250 employees, 110 used the
facilities at some time. Of 170 males employed by the company, 65 used the facilities.
(a) Set up a 2 x 2 table to evaluate the probabilities of using the facilities.
Event Symbol
Employee Used Facility U
Employee did not Use Facility U
Employee is Male M
Employee is Not Male M
(b) Give an example of a simple event.

There are four simple events:

Employee Used Facility ( U )

Employee did not Use Facility ( U )

Employee is Male ( M )

Employee is Not Male ( M )

(c) Give an example of a joint event.

There are four joint events:

Employee Used Facility and is Male ( U M )

Employee Used Facility and is Not Male ( U M )

Employee did not Use Facility and is Male ( U M )

Employee did not Use Facility and is Not Male ( U M )

(d) What is the complement of "used the health club facilities"?

It is the event "did not use the facilities" ( U ).


Here is a probability table for answering the rest of the questions:
M M
U 65/250 = 0.260 45/250 = 0.180 110/250 = 0.440
U 105/250 = 0.420 35/250 = 0.140 140/250 = 0.560

Managerial Statistics 254 Prof. Juran


170/250 = 0.680 80/250 = 0.320 1.000
What is the probability that an employee chosen at random

(e) is a male?
P M 0.68

(f) has used the health club facilities?


P U 0.44

(g) is a female and has used the health club facilities?



P M U 0.18
(h) is a female and has not used the health club facilities?

P M U 0.14
(i) is a female or has used the health club facilities?

P M U P M P U P M U
0.32 0.44 0.18
0.58
(j) is a male or has not used the health club facilities?

P M U P M P U P M U
0.68 0.56 0.42
0.82
(k) has used the health club facilities or has not used the health club facilities?

P U U P U P U P U U
0.44 0.56 0.00
1.00

Managerial Statistics 255 Prof. Juran


34. Each year, ratings are compiled concerning the performance of new cars during the
first 90 days of use. Suppose that the cars have been categorized according to two
attributes, whether or not the car needs warranty-related repair (yes or no) and the
country in which the company manufacturing the car is based (United States, not
United States). Based on the data collected, the probability that the new car needs a
warranty repair is .04, the probability that the car is manufactured by an American-
based company is .60, and the probability that the new car needs a warranty repair and
was manufactured by an American-based company is .025.
(a) Set up a 2 x 2 table to evaluate the probabilities of a warranty-related repair.
Event Symbol
Car Needs Warranty-related Repair W
Car Does Not Need Warranty-related Repair W
USA Manufacturer U
Non-USA Manufacturer U

W W
U 0.025 0.575 0.6
U 0.015 0.385 0.4
0.04 0.96 1
(b) Give an example of a simple event.

There are four simple events:


Car Needs Warranty-related Repair ( W )
Car Does Not Need Warranty-related Repair ( W )
USA Manufacturer ( U )
Non-USA Manufacturer ( U )
(c) Give an example of a joint event.

There are four joint events:


Car Needs Warranty-related Repair and USA Manufacturer ( W U )
Car Does Not Need Warranty-related Repair and USA Manufacturer ( W U
)
Car Needs Warranty-related Repair and Non-USA Manufacturer ( W U )
Car Does Not Need Warranty-related Repair and Non-USA Manufacturer (
W U )
(d) What is the complement of "manufactured by an American-based company"?

It is the event that there is a Non-USA Manufacturer ( U )

What is the probability that a new car selected at random

Managerial Statistics 256 Prof. Juran


(e) needs a warranty-related repair?

P W 0.04

(f) is not manufactured by an American-based company?

PU 0.4
(g) needs a warranty repair and is manufactured by a company based in the United States?

P W U 0.025

(h) does not need a warranty repair and is not manufactured by a company based in the
United States?


P W U 0.385
(i) needs a warranty repair or was manufactured by an American-based company?

P W U P W P U P W U

0.04 0.6 0.025

0.615

(j) needs a warranty repair or was not manufactured by an American-based company?


P W U P W P U P W U
0.04 0.4 0.015

0.425

(k) needs a warranty repair or does not need a warranty repair?


P W W P W P W P W W
0.04 0.96 0.000

1.000

Managerial Statistics 257 Prof. Juran


35. Recall the following data from a sample of 200 students in Problem 32 above.
Travel and Entertainment
Credit Card
Bank Credit Card Yes No
Yes 60 60
No 15 65
(a) Assume we know that the student has a bank credit card. What is the
probability, then, that he or she has a travel and entertainment card?

Probabilities:
T T
B 0.300 0.300 0.600
B 0.075 0.325 0.400
0.375 0.625
Bayes' Law:
P T B
P T B
P B
0.3

0.6
0.5
(b) Assume that we know that the student does not have a travel and entertainment card.
What, then, is the probability that he or she has a bank credit card?



P BT

P BT
PT
0.3

0.625
0.48
(c) Are the two events, having a bank credit card and having a travel and
entertainment card, statistically independent? Explain.

If these two events were independent, then knowledge about one of them would not
affect our expectation about the other.

For example, if we are ignorant about whether or not someone has a bank credit card,
we expect that there is a 0.375 probability that they have a travel and entertainment
card. If the two events were independent, then the probability that a person has a travel
and entertainment card, given that we know the person has a bank credit card, should
also be 0.375.

Managerial Statistics 258 Prof. Juran


In this case, the answer to (a) above (in which we found that the probability that a
person has a travel and entertainment card, given that we know the person has a bank
credit card, is really 0.5) reveals that the two events are not independent. Specifically,
people with bank credit cards are more likely to have travel and entertainment cards
than other people.

36. Use the data from Problem 33 above (in which a company has made health club
facilities available to its employees) to answer the following:

(a) Suppose that we select a female employee of the company. What, then, is the
probability that she has used the health club facilities?

Probabilities:
M M
U 0.260 0.180 0.440
U 0.420 0.140 0.560
0.680 0.320
Bayes' Law:



PUM

PU M
PM
0.18

0.32
0.5625

Managerial Statistics 259 Prof. Juran


(b) Suppose that we select a male employee of the company. What, then, is the probability
that he has not used the health club facilities?


PUM

PUM
P M
0.42

0.68
0.618
(c) Are the gender of the individual and the use of the health club facilities
statistically independent? Explain.

No. We know that P U M 0.618 P U 0.56 . If the two events were independent,
these probabilities would be the same. It turns out that men are less likely than women
to use the health club.

37. Use the new car performance ratings data from Problem 34 above to answer the
following:

(a) Suppose we know that the car was manufactured by a company based in the
United States. What. then, is the probability that the car needs a warranty repair?

Probabilities:
W W
U 0.025 0.575 0.6
U 0.015 0.385 0.4
0.04 0.96 1
Bayes' Law:
P W U
P W U
P U
0.025

0.6
0.042

Managerial Statistics 260 Prof. Juran


(b) Suppose we know that the car was not manufactured by a company based in the United
States. What, then, is the probability that the car needs a warranty repair?



P W U

P WU
PU
0.015

0.4
0.038
(c) Are need for a warranty repair and location of the company manufacturing the
car statistically independent?

No. American companies' cars are more likely to need a warranty repair.

38. A standard deck of cards is being used to play a game. There are four suits (hearts,
diamonds, clubs, and spades), each having 13 faces (ace. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack,
queen, and king), making a total of 52 cards. This complete deck is thoroughly mixed,
and you will receive the first two cards from the deck without replacement.

(a) What is the probability that both cards are queens?

Let Q1 be the event that you get a queen on the first card, and Q2 be the event that you get a
queen on the second card, given Q1. On the first card, you have four chances to get a queen out
of 52 cards. On the second card (assuming you get a queen on the first card) there are three
remaining chances out of 51 cards.

P Q1 Q 2 P Q1 P Q 2 Q1

4 3
*
52 51

0.004525

Managerial Statistics 261 Prof. Juran


(b) What is the probability that the first card is a 10 and the second card is a 5 or 6?

On the first card, you have four chances to get a 10 out of 52 cards. On the second card
(assuming you get a 10 on the first card) there are eight remaining chances to get a 5 or 6 out of
51 cards.

P 10 first 5 or 6 second 10 first


4 8

52 51

0.012066

(c) If we were sampling with replacement, what would be the answer in (a)?

Now, the second draw would consist of 52 cards, four of which are queens so
4
P Q1 P Q 2 .
52

P Q1 Q 2 P Q1 P Q 2 Q1

P Q 1 P Q 2

2
4

52

0.005917

(Drawing two queens is more likely with replacement than without replacement.)

(d) In the game of Blackjack, the picture cards (jack, queen, king) count as 10 points
and the ace counts as either 1 or 11 points. All other cards are counted at their
face value. Blackjack is achieved if your two cards total 21 points. What is the
probability of getting blackjack with two cards?

Let's examine the possibilities for getting Blackjack in two cards:

It is impossible to get Blackjack in two cards if the first card drawn is neither a 10, a
Picture, or an Ace (32 out of 52).

If the first card drawn is either a 10 or a Picture (16 out of 52), then you can get
Blackjack if the second card is an Ace (4 out of 51).

If the first card drawn is an Ace (4 out of 52), then you can get Blackjack if the
second card is either a 10 or a Picture (16 out of 51).

Managerial Statistics 262 Prof. Juran


Events:
Event Symbol
Ace on First Card A1
Ace on Second Card A2
10 or Picture on First Card P1
10 or Picture on Second Card P2

P Blackjack in two cards P P1 A2 P A1 P 2

16 4 4 16

52 51 52 51

0.0241 0.0241

0.0483

39. Suppose that the probability that a person has a certain disease is 0.03. Medical
diagnostic tests are available to determine whether the person actually has the disease.
If the disease is actually present, the probability that the medical diagnostic test will
give a positive result (indicating that the disease is present) is 0.90. If the disease is not
actually present, the probability of a positive test result (indicating that the disease is
present) is 0.02. Given this information, we would like to know the following:

(a) If the medical diagnostic test yields a positive result (indicating that the disease is
present), what is the probability that the disease is actually present?
Events Symbol Probability Given
Disease D 0.03
No Disease D
Test Positive T
Test Not Positive T
Test Positive, Given Disease T D 0.90
Test Positive, Given No Disease T D 0.02

Managerial Statistics 263 Prof. Juran


Probability Table:
D D
T 0.0270 0.0194 0.0464
T 0.0030 0.9506 0.9536
0.0300 0.9700
Note: Here is how these probabilities can be calculated in an Excel spreadsheet:
A B C D E F G
1 Events Probability Given
2 Disease 0.030
3 Test Positive, Given Disease 0.900
4 Test Positive, Given No Disease 0.020
5 =C11*B3
=D11*B4
6 =C11-C9
7 =SUM(C9:D9)

8 D Not D
9 T 0.0270 0.0194 0.0464
10 Not T 0.0030 0.9506 0.9536 =1-E9
11 0.0300 0.9700
12
13 =1-C11
14
15 =B2 =D11-D9
16

The question for Part (a) is "If the medical diagnostic test yields a positive result, what is
the probability that the disease is actually present?" In other words, what is the
probability of D given T?
P D T
P D T
P T
0.027

0.0464
0.582

(b) If the medical diagnostic test has given a negative result (indicating the disease is not
present), what is the probability that the disease is not present?



P DT

P DT
PT
0.9506

0.9536
0.997

Managerial Statistics 264 Prof. Juran


40. The Olive Construction Company is determining whether it should submit a bid for
a new shopping center. In the past, Olive's main competitor, Base Construction
Company, has submitted bids 70% of the time. If Base Construction Company does not
bid on a job, the probability that the Olive Construction Company will get the job is .50.
If Base Construction Company does bid on a job, the probability that the Olive
Construction Company will get the job is .25.

(a) If the Olive Construction Company gets the job, what is the probability that the
Base Construction Company did not bid?
Events Symbol Probability Given
Base Bids B 0.70
Base Does Not Bid B
Olive Wins Job O
Olive Does Not Win Job O
Olive Wins, Given Base Does Not Bid OB 0.50
Olive Wins, Given Base Bids OB 0.25
Probability Table:
B B
O 0.175 0.150 0.325
O 0.525 0.150 0.675
0.700 0.300 1


P BO

P BO
P O
0.15

0.325
0.4615
(b) What is the probability that the Olive Construction Company will get the job?
P O
P O B P O B
P O B P B P O B P B
0.25 0.70 0.50 0.3
0.175 0.15
0.325

Managerial Statistics 265 Prof. Juran


41. A municipal bond service has three rating categories (A, B, and C). Suppose that in
the past year, of the municipal bonds issued throughout the United States, 70% were
rated A, 20% were rated B, and 10% were rated C. Of the municipal bonds rated A, 50%
were issued by cities, 40% by suburbs, and 10% by rural areas. Of the municipal bonds
rated B, 60% were issued by cities, 20% by suburbs, and 20% by rural areas. Of the
municipal bonds rated C, 90% were issued by cities, 5% by suburbs, and 5% by rural
areas.

(a) If a new municipal bond is to be issued by a city, what is the probability it will
receive an A rating?
First, organize what we know:
Event Symbol Probability Given
City Issuer U
Suburban Issuer S
Rural Issuer R
A Rating A 0.70
B Rating B 0.20
C Rating C 0.10
U given A U A 0.50
S given A S A 0.40
R given A RA 0.10
U given B U B 0.60
S given B S B 0.20
R given B RB 0.20
U given C U C 0.90
S given C SC 0.05
R given C R C 0.05
Using Bayes' Law, we can fill in the following table:
Rating
Issuer A B C
U 0.50*0.70 = 0.60*0.20 = 0.90*0.10 = 0.35 + 0.12 + 0.09 =
0.35 0.12 0.09 0.56
S 0.40*0.70 = 0.20*0.20 = 0.05*0.10 = 0.28 + 0.04 + 0.005 =
0.28 0.04 0.005 0.325
R 0.10*0.70 = 0.20*0.20 = 0.05*0.10 = 0.07 + 0.04 + 0.005 =
0.07 0.04 0.005 0.115
0.70 0.20 0.10
Now, if a new municipal bond is to be issued by a city, what is the probability it will
receive an A rating?
This is asking for the probability of A , given U .

Managerial Statistics 266 Prof. Juran


P A U
P A U
P U
0.35

0.56
0.625
(b) What proportion of municipal bonds are issued by cities?

P U 0.56

(c) What proportion of municipal bonds are issued by suburbs?

P S 0.325

42. Using the company records for the past 500 working days, the manager of Torrisi
Motors, a suburban automobile dealership, has summarized the number of cars sold
per day into the following table:
Number of Cars Frequency
Sold per Day of Occurrence
0 40
1 100
2 142
3 66
4 36
5 30
6 26
7 20
8 16
9 14
10 8
11 2
Total 500

Managerial Statistics 267 Prof. Juran


(a) Form the empirical probability distribution (i.e., relative frequency distribution)
for the discrete random variable X, the number of cars sold per day.

Here's how to set this up in Excel:

A B C D E
1 Number of Cars Frequency
2 Sold per Day of Occurrence
=B3/$B$15
3 0 40 0.080
4 1 100 0.200
5 2 142 0.284
6 3 66 0.132
7 4 36 0.072
8 5 30 0.060
9 6 26 0.052
10 7 20 0.040
11 8 16 0.032
12 9 14 0.028
13 10 8 0.016
14 11 2 0.004
15 Total 500 1.000

(b) Compute the mean or expected number of cars sold per day.

A B C D E F
1 Number of Cars Frequency
2 Sold per Day of Occurrence =A3*C3
3 0 40 0.080 0.000
4 1 100 0.200 0.200
5 2 142 0.284 0.568
6 3 66 0.132 0.396
7 4 36 0.072 0.288
8 5 30 0.060 0.300
9 6 26 0.052 0.312
10 7 20 0.040 0.280
11 8 16 0.032 0.256
12 9 14 0.028 0.252
13 10 8 0.016 0.160
14 11 2 0.004 0.044 =SUM(D3:D14)
15 Total 500 1.000 3.056

Managerial Statistics 268 Prof. Juran


(c) Compute the standard deviation.

A B C D E F G H I
1 Number of Cars Frequency =A3-$D$15
Weighted Weighted =E3^2
2 Sold per Day of Occurrence Prob. Prob. Error Error^2 by Prob.
3 0 40 0.080 0.000 -3.056 9.339 0.747
4 1 100 0.200 0.200 -2.056 4.227 0.845 =F3*C3
5 2 142 0.284 0.568 -1.056 1.115 0.317
6 3 66 0.132 0.396 -0.056 0.003 0.000
7 4 36 0.072 0.288 0.944 0.891 0.064
8 5 30 0.060 0.300 1.944 3.779 0.227
9 6 26 0.052 0.312 2.944 8.667 0.451
10 7 20 0.040 0.280 3.944 15.555 0.622
11 8 16 0.032 0.256 4.944 24.443 0.782
12 9 14 0.028 0.252 5.944 35.331 0.989
13 10 8 0.016 0.160 6.944 48.219 0.772
14 11 2 0.004 0.044 7.944 63.107 0.252 =SUM(G3:G14)
15 Total 500 1.000 3.056 Variance 6.069 =SQRT(G15)
16 Std. Dev. 2.464

(d) What is the probability that on any given day

(i) fewer than four cars will be sold?

P X 4 P X 0 P X 1 P X 2 P X 3

0.080 0.200 0.284 0.132

0.696

(ii) at most four cars will be sold?

P X 4 P X 0 P X 1 P X 2 P X 3 P X 4

0.080 0.200 0.284 0.132 0.072

0.768

(iii) at least four cars will be sold?

P X 4 P X 4 P X 5 ... P X 11

0.072 0.060 0.052 0.040 0.032 0.028 0.016 0.004

0.304

Managerial Statistics 269 Prof. Juran


Alternatively,

P X 4 1 P X 4

1 0.696 (from Part d(i) above)

0.304

(iv) exactly four cars will be sold?

P X 4 0.072

(v) more than four cars will be sold?

P X 4 P X 5 P X 6 ... P X 11

0.060 0.052 0.040 0.032 0.028 0.016 0.004

0.232
Alternatively,

P X 4 1 P X 4

1 0.768 (from Part d(ii) above)

0.232

43. In the carnival game Under-or-over-Seven, a pair of fair dice are rolled once, and the
resulting sum determines whether or not the player wins or loses his or her bet. For
example, the player can bet $1.00 that the sum will be under 7 that is, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.
For such a bet the player will lose $1.00 if the outcome equals or exceeds 7 or will win
$1.00 if the result is under 7. Similarly, the player can bet $1.00 that the sum will be over
7 that is, 8, 9, 10, II, or 12. Here the player wins $1.00 if the result is over 7 but loses
$l.00 if the result is 7 or under. A third method of play is to bet $1.00 on the outcome 7.
For this bet the player will win $4.00 if the result of the roll is 7 and lose $1.00 otherwise.

Managerial Statistics 270 Prof. Juran


(a) Form the probability distribution function representing the different outcomes
that are possible for a $1.00 bet on being under 7.

Here's a way to set this up in Excel:

A B C D E F G H I
1 Results
2 1st Die 2nd Die Sum Bet Under 7 Bet Over 7 Bet = 7
3 1 1 2 Win Lose Lose
4 1 2 3 Win Lose Lose
5 1 3 4 Win Lose Lose
6 1 4 5 Win Lose Lose
7 1 5 6 Win Lose Lose
8 1 6 7 Lose Lose Win
9 2 1 3 Win Lose Lose
10 2 2 4 Win Lose Lose
11 2 3 5 Win Lose Lose
12 2 4 6 Win Lose Lose
13 2 5 7 Lose Lose Win
14 2 6 8 Lose Win Lose
15 3 1 4 Win Lose Lose
16 3 2 5 Win Lose Lose
17 3 3 6 Win Lose Lose
18 3 4 7 Lose Lose Win
19 3 5 8 Lose Win Lose
20 3 6 9 Lose Win Lose
21 4 1 5 Win Lose Lose
22 4 2 6 Win Lose Lose
23 4 3 7 Lose Lose Win
24 4 4 8 Lose Win Lose
25 4 5 9 Lose Win Lose
26 4 6 10 Lose Win Lose
27 5 1 6 Win Lose Lose
28 5 2 7 Lose Lose Win
29 5 3 8 Lose Win Lose
30 5 4 9 Lose Win Lose
31 5 5 10 Lose Win Lose
32 5 6 11 Lose Win Lose
33 6 1 7 Lose Lose Win
34 6 2 8 Lose Win Lose
35 6 3 9 Lose Win Lose
36 6 4 10 Lose Win Lose
37 6 5 11 Lose Win Lose =IF(C38=7,"Win","Lose")
38 6 6 12 Lose Win Lose
39 Number of Winning Outcomes 15 15 6 =COUNTIF(F3:F38,"Win")

40 Probability of Winning 0.417 0.417 0.167 =F39/36


41

So, for a bet on "Under 7", here are the possibilities:


Outcome Payoff Probability
Win $1 0.417
Lose -$1 0.583

Managerial Statistics 271 Prof. Juran


(b) Form the probability distribution function representing the different outcomes
that are possible for a $1.00 bet on being over 7.

Same deal:
Outcome Payoff Probability
Win $1 0.417
Lose -$1 0.583
(c) Form the probability distribution function representing the different outcomes
that are possible for a $1.00 bet on 7.
Outcome Payoff Probability
Win $4 0.167
Lose -$1 0.833
(d) Show that the expected long-run profit (or loss) to the player is the same no matter
which method of play is used.
Bet Expected Value Calculation
Under 7 E X 1 * 0.417 1 * 0.583 $0.167
Over 7 E X 1 * 0.417 1 * 0.583 $0.167
=7 E X 4 * 0.167 1 * 0.833 $0.167

44. Suppose that warranty records show the probability that a new car needs a warranty
repair in the first 90 days is 0.05. If a sample of three new cars is selected,

(a) what is the probability that

(i) none needs a warranty repair?

We have a binomial distribution with n = 3 and p = 0.05.

n! x
P X 0 p 1 p n x
x! n x !

3!
0.05 0 1 0.05 3 0
0! 3 0 !

1 1 0.95 3

0.857

Managerial Statistics 272 Prof. Juran


(ii) at least one needs a warranty repair?

P X 1 P X 0

1 P X 0

1 0.857

0.143

(iii) more than one needs a warranty repair?

P X 1 1 P X 0 P X 1

3!
1 0.857 0.05 1 1 0.05 31
1! 3 1 !


1 0.857 3 0.05 0.95 2
1 0.857 0.135

1 0.993

0.007

Here's how to do the previous questions in Excel:


A B C D E F G
1 n 3
2 p 0.05
3 =BINOMDIST(0,$C$1,$C$2,0)
4 (i) probability that none needs a warranty repair? 0.857
5 (ii) probability that at least one needs a warranty repair?. 0.143 =1-BINOMDIST(0,$C$1,$C$2,0)
6 (iii) probability that more than one needs a warranty repair? 0.007
7 =1-BINOMDIST(1,$C$1,$C$2,1)
8

(b) What assumptions are necessary in (a)?

For each of the three cars, there are only two possible outcomes: Either it
needs a warranty repair or it doesn't. (These two outcomes are mutually
exclusive and collectively exhaustive.)

The probability of any one car needing warranty repair is the same for all
cars, and is independent of what happens with any other car.

Managerial Statistics 273 Prof. Juran


(c) What are the mean and the standard deviation of the probability distribution in (a)?

E(X) np
3 0.05
0.15

(X) np( 1 p )
3 0.05 ( 0.95 )
0.143
0.377
(d) What would be your answers to (a)-(c) if the probability of needing a warranty repair was 0.10?
P X 0 0.729

P X 1 0.271

P X 1 0.028

E(X) 0.30

(X) 0.520
45. Suppose that the likelihood that someone who logs onto a particular e-commerce
site will purchase an item is 0.20. If the site has 10 people accessing it in the next minute,
what is the probability that

(a) none of the individuals will purchase an item?

n! x
P X 0 p 1 p n x
x! n x !

10!
0.2 0 1 0.2 10 0
0! 10 0 !

1 1 0.8 10

0.107

Managerial Statistics 274 Prof. Juran


(b) exactly 2 individuals will purchase an item?

n! x
P X 2 p 1 p n x
x! n x !

10!
0.2 2 1 0.2 10 2
2! 10 2 !

3 ,628 ,800
0.2 2 0.8 8
2 40 ,320

45 0.040 0.168

0.302

(c) at least 2 individuals will purchase an item?

P X 2 1 P X 0 P X 1

10! 1
1 0.107 0.2 1 0.2 10 1
1! 10 1 !

1 0.107 10 0.2 0.134

1 0.107 0.268

1 0.376

0.624

(d) at most 2 individuals will purchase an item?

P X 2 P X 0 P X 1 P X 2

0.107 0.268 0.302

0.678

Managerial Statistics 275 Prof. Juran


(e) If 20 people accessed the site in the next minute, what would be your answers to (a)-(d)?
P X 0 0.012

P X 2 0.137

P X 2 0.931

P X 2 0.206
(f) If the probability of purchasing an item was only 0.10, what would be your answers to (a)-(d)?
P X 0 0.349

P X 2 0.194

P X 2 0.264

P X 2 0.930

Managerial Statistics 276 Prof. Juran


46. An important part of the customer service responsibilities of a telephone company
relate to the speed with which troubles in residential service can be repaired. Suppose
past data indicate that the likelihood is 0.70 that troubles in residential service can be
repaired on the same day.

(a) For the first five troubles reported on a given day, what is the probability that

(i) all five will be repaired on the same day?

n! x
P X 5 p 1 p n x
x! n x !

5!
0.7 5 1 0.7 5 5
5! 5 5 !

1 0.7 5 0.3 0

1 0.168 1

0.168

(ii) at least three will be repaired on the same day?

P X 3 P X 3 P X 4 P X 5

5! 5!
0.7 3 1 0.7 5 3 0.7 4 1 0.7 5 4 0.168
3! 5 3 ! 4! 5 4 !

120 3 120 4
0.7 0.3 2 0.7 0.3 1 0.168
6 2 24 1

10 0.343 0.09 5 0.240 0.3 0.168

0.309 0.360 0.168

0.837

Managerial Statistics 277 Prof. Juran


(iii) fewer than two will be repaired on the same day?

P X 2 P X 0 P X 1

5! 5!
0.7 0 0.3 5 0.7 1 0.3 4
0! 5 ! 1! 4 !

120 120
1 0.0081 0.7 0.0024
1 120 1 24

0.0024 0.0284

0.031

(b) What assumptions are necessary in (a)?

For each of the five problems reported, there are only two possible outcomes:
Either they get repaired on the same day or they don't. (These two outcomes
are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive.)

The probability of any one problem getting repaired on the same day (0.70) is
independent of what happens with any other reported problem.

(c) What are the mean and the standard deviation of the probability distribution in (a)?

E(X) np
5 0.7
3.5

(X) np( 1 p )
5 0.7 ( 0.3)
1.05
1.025

Managerial Statistics 278 Prof. Juran


Here is how to answer these questions with Excel:

A B C D E F G H I
1 n 5 a(i) 0.168
=BINOMDIST(5,$B$1,$B$2,0)
2 p 0.7
3 a(ii) 0.837 =1-BINOMDIST(2,$B$1,$B$2,1)
4
5 a(iii) 0.031 =BINOMDIST(1,$B$1,$B$2,1)
6
7 c 3.500 mean =B1*B2
8 1.025 =SQRT((B1*B2*(1-B2)))
9

(d) What would be your answers in (a) and (c) if the probability is 0.80 that troubles
in residential service can be repaired on the same day?

(e) Compare the results of (a) and (d).


Probability
Event p = 0.7 p = 0.8
All five will be repaired on the same day 0.168 0.328
At least three will be repaired on the same day 0.837 0.942
Fewer than two will be repaired on the same day 0.031 0.007
Expected value 3.5 4.0
Std Dev 1.025 0.894

47. Suppose that a student is taking a multiple-choice exam in which each question has
four choices. Assuming that she has no knowledge of the correct answers to any of the
questions, she has decided on a strategy in which she will place four balls (marked A, B,
C, and D) into a box. She randomly selects one ball for each question and replaces the
ball in the box. The marking on the ball will determine her answer to the question.

(a) If there are five multiple-choice questions on the exam, what is the probability
that she will get

The number of correct answers out of five is binomially distributed with n = 5 and p =
0.25.

Managerial Statistics 279 Prof. Juran


(i) five questions correct?

n! x
P X 5 p 1 p n x
x! n x !

5!
0.25 5 1 0.25 5 5
5! 5 5 !

1 0.25 5 0.75 0

1 0.0010 1

0.0010

(ii) at least four questions correct?

P X 4 P X 4 P X 5

5!
0.25 4 1 0.25 5 4 0.0010
4! 5 4 !

120
0.0039 0.75 0.0010
24

0.0146 0.0010

0.0156

(iii) no questions correct?

5!
P X 0 0.25 0 1 0.25 5 0
0! 5 0 !

120
1 0.2373
120

0.2373

Managerial Statistics 280 Prof. Juran


(iv) no more than two questions correct?

P X 2 P X 0 P X 1 P X 2

5! 5!
0.2373 0.25 1 1 0.25 5 1 0.25 2 1 0.25 5 2
1! 5 1 ! 2! 5 2 !

120 120
0.25 0.75 0.25 0.75
1 4 2 3
0.2373
24 12

0.2373 5 0.25 0.3164 10 0.0625 0.4219

0.2373 0.3955 0.2637

0.8965

(b) What assumptions are necessary in (a)?

For each of the five questions, there are only two possible outcomes: Either
she gets it right or she doesn't. (These two outcomes are mutually exclusive
and collectively exhaustive.)

The probability of getting any one question correct is the same for all
questions (0.25), and is independent of what happens with any other
question.

(c) What are the average and the standard deviation of the number of questions that she will get correct in (a)?

E(X) np
5 0.25
1.25

(X) np( 1 p )
5 0.25 ( 0.75)
0.9375
0.9682

Managerial Statistics 281 Prof. Juran


(d) Suppose that the exam has 50 multiple-choice questions and 30 or more correct
answers is a passing score. What is the probability that she will pass the exam by
following her strategy? (Use Microsoft Excel to compute this probability.)

The Excel function =1-BINOMDIST(29,50,0.25,1) returns the probability: 0.00000016 (not


bloody likely).

48. Suppose that a survey has been undertaken to determine if there is a relationship between place of residence and
ownership of a foreign-made automobile. A random sample of 200 car owners from large cities, 150 from suburbs,
and 150 from rural areas was selected with the following results.
Type of Area
Car Ownership Large City Suburb Rural Total
Own foreign car 90 60 25 175
Do not own foreign car 110 90 125 325
Total 200 150 150 500
(a) If a car owner is selected at random, what is the probability that he or she

(i) owns a foreign car?


Events Symbols
Own foreign car F
Do not own foreign car F
Large City C
Suburb S
Rural R

175
P F
500

0.35

(ii) lives in a suburb?

150
P S
500

0.3

Managerial Statistics 282 Prof. Juran


(iii) owns a foreign car or lives in a large city?

P F C P F P C P F C

175 200 90

500 500 500

0.35 0.4 0.18

0.57

(iv) lives in a large city or a suburb?

P C S P C P S P C S

200 150 0

500 500 500

0.4 0.3 0

0.7

(v) lives in a large city and owns a foreign car?

90
P C F
500

0.18

(vi) lives in a rural area or does not own a foreign car?


P RF
P R P F P R F
150 325 125

500 500 500

0.3 0.65 0.25

0.70

Managerial Statistics 283 Prof. Juran


(b) Assume we know that the person selected lives in a suburb. What is the probability that he or she owns a
foreign car?

P F S
P F S
P S

0.12

0.30

0.4

(c) Is area of residence statistically independent of whether the person owns a


foreign car? Explain.

If these two variables were independent, then knowing about a person's area of
residence would not affect our expectations about the type of car they own.
Mathematically:

P F C P F S P F R P F

In fact, the above probabilities are not equal, and therefore the two events are not
independent.

49. The finance society at a college of business at a large state university would like to
determine whether there is a relationship between a student's interest in finance and his
or her ability in mathematics. A random sample of 200 students is selected and they are
asked whether their interest in finance and ability in mathematics are low, average, or
high. The results are as follows:
Ability in Mathematics
Interest in Finance Low Average High Total
Low 60 15 15 90
Average 15 45 10 70
High 5 10 25 40
Total 80 70 50 200
(a) Give an example of a simple event.

A student shows a low interest in finance.

(b) Give an example of a joint event.

A student shows a low interest in finance and an average ability in mathematics.

(c) Why are high interest in finance and high ability in mathematics a joint event?

Managerial Statistics 284 Prof. Juran


This is a joint event because two separate conditions must both be true.
Event Symbol
Low interest in finance LF
Average interest in finance AF
High interest in finance HF
Low ability in mathematics LM
Average ability in mathematics AM
High ability in mathematics HM
(d) If a student is chosen at random, what is the probability that he or she

(1) has a high ability in mathematics?

50
P HM
200

0.25

(2) has an average interest in finance?

70
P AM
200

0.35

(3) has a low ability in mathematics?

80
P LM
200

0.4

(4) has a high interest in finance?

40
P HF
200

0.2

Managerial Statistics 285 Prof. Juran


(5) has a low interest in finance and a low ability in mathematics?

60
P LF LM
200

0.3

(6) has a high interest in finance and a high ability in mathematics?

25
P HF HM
200

0.125

(7) has a low interest in finance or a low ability in mathematics?

P LF LM P LF P LM P LF LM

90 80 60

200 200 200

0.45 0.4 0.3

0.55

(8) has a high interest in finance or a high ability in mathematics?

P HF HM P HF P HM P HF HM

40 50 25

200 200 200

0.2 0.25 0.125

0.325

Managerial Statistics 286 Prof. Juran


(9) has a low ability in mathematics or an average ability in mathematics or a high
ability in mathematics? Are these events mutually exclusive? Are they collectively
exhaustive? Explain.
Event Symbol Probability
Low ability in mathematics LM 0.4
Average ability in mathematics AM 0.35
High ability in mathematics HM 0.25
These three probabilities add up to 1.0. They are mutually exclusive because only one of
them can occur at a time (a student can't have average ability and have low ability at the
same time). They are collectively exhaustive because one of them must occur (every
student must fall into one of the three categories).

(e) Assume we know that the person selected has a high ability in mathematics. What is the
probability that the person has a high interest in finance?

P HF HM
P HF HM
P HM

0.125

0.25

0.5

(f) Assume we know that the person selected has a high interest in finance. What is the
probability that the person has a high ability in mathematics?

P HF HM
P HM HF
P HF

0.125

0.2

0.625

(g) Explain the difference in your answers to (e) and (f).

Note that the numerators are the same (representing the probability that a student has
both a high ability in mathematics and a high interest in finance. The denominators are
different.

Managerial Statistics 287 Prof. Juran


In (e) we are interested in the subset of students who have a high ability in
mathematics, and would like to know how likely they are to have a high interest in
finance. In (f) we are interested in the subset of students who have a high interest in
finance, and would like to know how likely they are to have a high ability in
mathematics.

(h) Are interest in finance and ability in mathematics statistically independent?


Explain.

No they are not. On the whole, 25% of students have a high ability in mathematics.
Knowing that a student has a high interest in finance shouldn't affect this probability if
the two events are independent. In question (f) above, we see that this bit of information
about a student increases the probability that he/she has a high ability in mathematics
from 25% to 62.5%.

50. On the basis of past experience, 15% of the bills of a large mail-order book company
are incorrect. A random sample of three current bills is selected.

We assume the number of incorrect bills is binomially distributed with n = 3 and p =


0.15.

(a) What is the probability that

(1) exactly two bills are incorrect?

n! x
P X 2 p 1 p n x
x! n x !

3!
0.15 2 1 0.15 3 2
2! 3 2 !

3 0.0225 0.85

0.0574

Managerial Statistics 288 Prof. Juran


(2) no more than two bills are incorrect?

P X 2 1 P X 3

3!
1 0.15 3 1 0.15 0
0! 3 0 !

1 1 0.0034 1

0.9966

(3) at least two bills are incorrect?

P X 2 P X 2 P X 3

0.0574 0.0034

0.0608

(b) What assumptions about the probability distribution are necessary to solve this
problem?

We assume that a bill must be either correct or incorrect, that the probability of any bill
being incorrect is 15%, and that the result with any one bill is independent of whether
any other bill is incorrect.

(c) What would be your answers to (a) if the percentage of incorrect bills was 10%?

(1) 0.0270

(2) 0.9990

(3) 0.0280

Managerial Statistics 289 Prof. Juran


51. Suppose that on a very long mathematics test, the probability is that Lauren would
get 70% of the items right.

The number of correct items is binomially distributed with n = 10 and p = 0.7. We'll
solve this one using Excel.

(a) For a 10-item quiz, calculate the probability that Lauren will get

(1) at least 7 items right.

(2) fewer than 6 items right (and therefore fail the quiz).

(3) 9 or 10 items right (and get an A on the quiz).

(b) What is the expected number of items that Lauren will get right? What
proportion of the time will she get that number right?

(c) What is the standard deviation of the number of items that Lauren will get right?

(d) What would be your answers to (a)-(c) if she typically got 80% correct?
A B C D E F
1 n p
2 10 0.7
3
4 a =1-BINOMDIST(6,$B$2,$C$2,1)
5 (1) at least 7 items right. 0.650
=BINOMDIST(5,$B$2,$C$2,1)
6 (2) fewer than 6 items right (and therefore fail the quiz). 0.150
=1-BINOMDIST(8,$B$2,$C$2,1)
7 (3) 9 or 10 items right (and get an A on the quiz). 0.149
8 =B2*C2
9 (b) What is the expected number of items that Lauren will get right? 7
=BINOMDIST(B9,B2,C2,0)
10 What proportion of the time will she get that number right? 0.2668
11 =SQRT(B2*C2*(1-C2))
12 (c) What is the standard deviation of the number of items that Lauren will get right? 1.4491
13
14 d =1-BINOMDIST(6,$B$2,$C$19,1)
15 (1) at least 7 items right. 0.879
=BINOMDIST(5,$B$2,$C$19,1)
16 (2) fewer than 6 items right (and therefore fail the quiz). 0.033
=1-BINOMDIST(8,$B$2,$C$19,1)
17 (3) 9 or 10 items right (and get an A on the quiz). 0.376
18
19 0.8

Managerial Statistics 290 Prof. Juran

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