MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS-CHAPTER FIVE

DISCRETE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS

In the following multiple choice questions, circle the correct answer.

1. A numerical description of the outcome of an experiment is called a

a. descriptive statistic
b. probability function
c. variance
d. random variable
e. None of the above answers is correct.

2. A random variable that can assume only a finite number of values is referred to as a(n)
a. infinite sequence
b. finite sequence
c. discrete random variable
d. discrete probability function
e. None of the above answers is correct.

3. A probability distribution showing the probability of x successes in n trials, where the

probability of success does not change from trial to trial, is termed a
a. uniform probability distribution
b. binomial probability distribution
c. hypergeometric probability distribution
d. normal probability distribution
e. None of the above answers is correct.

4. Variance is
a. a measure of the average, or central value of a random variable
b. a measure of the dispersion of a random variable
c. the square root of the standard deviation
d. the sum of the squared deviation of data elements from the mean
e. None of the above answers is correct.

5. A continuous random variable may assume

a. any value in an interval or collection of intervals
b. only integer values in an interval or collection of intervals
c. only fractional values in an interval or collection of intervals
d. only the positive integer values in an interval
e. None of the above answers is correct.
6. A description of the distribution of the values of a random variable and their associated
probabilities is called a
a. probability distribution
b. random variance
c. random variable
d. expected value
e. None of the above answers is correct.

7. Which of the following is(are) required condition(s) for a discrete probability function?
a. f(x) = 0
b. f(x)  1 for all values of x
c. f(x) < 0
d. both a and b are correct
e. None of the above answers is correct.

8. A measure of the average value of a random variable is called a(n)

a. variance
b. standard deviation
c. expected value
d. all of the above answers are correct
e. None of the above answers is correct.

9. Which of the following is not a required condition for a discrete probability function?
a. f(x)  0 for all values of x
b. f(x) = 1
c. f(x) = 0
d. both a and b
e. None of the above answers is correct.

10. The standard deviation is the

a. variance squared
b. square root of the sum of the deviations from the mean
c. same as the expected value
d. positive square root of the variance
e. None of the above answers is correct.

11. The variance is a measure of dispersion or variability of a random variable. It is a

weighted average of the
a. square root of the deviations from the mean
b. square root of the deviations from the median
c. squared deviations from the median
d. squared deviations from the mean
e. None of the above answers is correct

2
12. A weighted average of the value of a random variable, where the probability function
provides weights is known as
a. a probability function
b. a random variable
c. the expected value
d. None of the above answers is correct

Exhibit 5-1
The following represents the probability distribution for the daily demand of microcomputers at
a local store.

Demand Probability
0 0.1
1 0.2
2 0.3
3 0.2
4 0.2

13. Refer to Exhibit 5-1. The expected daily demand is

a. 1.0
b. 2.2
c. 2, since it has the highest probability
d. of course 4, since it is the largest demand level
e. 0

14. Refer to Exhibit 5-1. The probability of having a demand for at least two
microcomputers is
a. 0.7
b. 0.3
c. 0.4
d. 1.0

Exhibit 5-2
The student body of a large university consists of 60% female students. A random sample of 8
students is selected.

15. Refer to Exhibit 5-2. What is the probability that among the students in the sample
exactly two are female?
a. 0.0896
b. 0.2936
c. 0.0413
d. 0.0007
e. None of the above answers is correct.

3
16. Refer to Exhibit 5-2. What is the probability that among the students in the sample at
least 7 are female?
a. 0.1064
b. 0.0896
c. 0.0168
d. 0.8936
e. None of the above answers is correct.

17. Refer to Exhibit 5-2. What is the probability that among the students in the sample at
least 6 are male?
a. 0.0413
b. 0.0079
c. 0.0007
d. 0.0499
e. None of the above answers is correct.

18. An experiment consists of making 80 telephone calls in order to sell a particular

insurance policy. The random variable in this experiment is a
a. discrete random variable
b. continuous random variable
c. complex random variable
d. None of the above answers is correct.

19. An experiment consists of determining the speed of automobiles on a highway by the use
of radar equipment. The random variable in this experiment is a
a. discrete random variable
b. continuous random variable
c. complex random variable
d. None of the above answers is correct.

Exhibit 5-3
AMR is a computer consulting firm. The number of new clients that they have obtained each
month has ranged from 0 to 6. The number of new clients has the probability distribution that is
shown below.

Number of
New Clients Probability
0 0.05
1 0.10
2 0.15
3 0.35
4 0.20
5 0.10
6 0.05

4
20. Refer to Exhibit 5-3. The expected number of new clients per month is
a. 6
b. 0
c. 3.05
d. 21
e. more than 6

21. Refer to Exhibit 5-3. The variance is

a. 1.431
b. 2.047
c. 3.05
d. 21
e. more than 6

22. Refer to Exhibit 5-3. The standard deviation is

a. 1.431
b. 2.047
c. 3.05
d. 21
e. more than 6

23. The number of electrical outages in a city varies from day to day. Assume that the
number of electrical outages (x) in the city has the following probability distribution.

x f(x)
0 0.80
1 0.15
2 0.04
3 0.01

The mean and the standard deviation for the number of electrical outages (respectively)
are

a. 2.6 and 5.77

b. 0.26 and 0.577
c. 3 and 0.01
d. 0 and 0.8
e. 1.25 and 1.25

5
Exhibit 5-4
Forty percent of all registered voters in a national election are female. A random sample of 5
voters is selected.

24. Refer to Exhibit 5-4. The probability that the sample contains 2 female voters is
a. 0.0778
b. 0.7780
c. 0.5000
d. 0.3456
e. None of the above answers is correct.

25. Refer to Exhibit 5-4. The probability that there are no females in the sample is
a. 0.0778
b. 0.7780
c. 0.5000
d. 0.3456
e. None of the above answers is correct.

26. The number of customers that enter a store during one day is an example of
a. a continuous random variable
b. a discrete random variable
c. either a continuous or a discrete random variable, depending on the number of the
customers
d. either a continuous or a discrete random variable, depending on the gender of the
customers
e. None of the above answers is correct.

27. The weight of an object is an example of

a. a continuous random variable
b. a discrete random variable
c. either a continuous or a discrete random variable, depending on the weight of the
object
d. either a continuous or a discrete random variable depending on the units of
measurement
e. None of the above answers is correct.

28. Four percent of the customers of a mortgage company default on their payments. A
sample of five customers is selected. What is the probability that exactly two customers
in the sample will default on their payments?
a. 0.2592
b. 0.0142
c. 0.9588
d. 0.7408
e. 0.0000

6
29. The mean of a Binomial distribution is given by
a. np
b. np(1-p)
c. square root of np
d. squre root of np(1-p)
e. None of the above answers is correct.

30. Twenty percent of the students in a class of 100 are planning to go to graduate school.
The standard deviation of this binomial distribution is
a. 20
b. 16
c. 4
d. 2
e. None of the above answers is correct.

31. If you are conducting an experiment where the probability of a success is .02 and you are
interested in the probability of 4 successes in 15 trials, the correct probability function to
use is the
a. standard normal probability density function
b. normal probability density function
c. Poisson probability function
d. binomial probability function
e. None of the above answers is correct.

32. Which of the following statements about a discrete random variable and its probability
distribution are true?
a. Values of the random variable can never be negative.
b. Some negative values of f(x) are allowed as long as f(x) = 1.
c. Values of f(x) must be greater than or equal to zero.
d. The values of f(x) increase to a maximum point and then decrease.
e. None of the above answers is correct.

33. In the textile industry, a manufacturer is interested in the number of blemishes or flaws
occurring in each 100 feet of material. The probability distribution that has the greatest
chance of applying to this situation is the
a. normal distribution
b. binomial distribution
c. Poisson distribution
d. uniform distribution
e. None of the above answers is correct.
34. The Poisson probability distribution is a
a. continuous probability distribution
b. discrete probability distribution
c. uniform probability distribution
d. normal probability distribution
e. None of the above answers is correct.

7
35. The binomial probability distribution is used with
a. a continuous random variable
b. a discrete random variable
c. any distribution, as long as it is not normal
d. all of the above answers are correct
e. None of the above answers is correct.

36. The expected value of a discrete random variable

a. is the most likely or highest probability value for the random variable
b. will always be one of the values x can take on, although it may not be the highest
probability value for the random variable
c. is the average value for the random variable over many repeats of the experiment
d. All of the above answers are correct.
e. None of the above answers is correct.

37. Which of the following is not a characteristic of an experiment where the binomial
probability distribution is applicable?
a. the experiment has a sequence of n identical trials
b. exactly two outcomes are possible on each trial
c. the trials are dependent
d. the probabilities of the outcomes do not change from one trial to another
e. all are characteristics of a binomial probability experiment

38. Which of the following is a characteristic of a binomial experiment?

a. at least 2 outcomes are possible
b. the probability changes from trial to trial
c. the trials are independent
d. All of the above answers are correct.
e. None of the above answers is correct.

39. The expected value of a random variable is

a. the value of the random variable that should be observed on the next repeat of the
experiment
b. the value of the random variable that occurs most frequently
c. the square root of the variance
d. the variance squared
e. None of the above answers is correct.

40. In a binomial experiment

a. the probability does not change from trial to trial
b. the probability does change from trial to trial
c. the probability could change from trial to trial, depending on the situation under
consideration
d. All of the above answers are correct.
e. None of the above answers is correct.

8
41. Assume that you have a binomial experiment with p = 0.5 and a sample size of 100. The
expected value of this distribution is
a. 0.50
b. 0.30
c. 100
d. 50
e. None of the above answers is correct.

42. Which of the following is not a property of a binomial experiment?

a. the experiment consists of a sequence of n identical trials
b. each outcome can be referred to as a success or a failure
c. the probabilities of the two outcomes can change from one trial to the next
d. the trials are independent
e. All of the above answers are correct.

43. The Poisson probability distribution is used with

a. a continuous random variable
b. a discrete random variable
c. either a continuous or discrete random variable
d. any random variable
e. None of the above answers is correct.

44. The standard deviation of a binomial distribution is

a. E(x) = Pn(1 - n)
b. E(x) = P(1 - P)
c. E(x) = nP
d. E(x) = nP(1 - P)
e. None of the above answers is correct.

45. The expected value for a binomial probability distribution is

a. E(x) = Pn(1 - n)
b. E(x) = P(1 - P)
c. E(x) = nP
d. E(x) = nP(1 - P)
e. None of the above answers is correct.

46. The variance for the binomial probability distribution is

a. var(x) = P(1 - P)
b. var(x) = nP
c. var(x) = n(1 - P)
d. var(x) = nP(1 - P)
e. None of the above answers is correct.

9
47. A production process produces 2% defective parts. A sample of five parts from the
production process is selected. What is the probability that the sample contains exactly
two defective parts?
a. 0.0004
b. 0.0038
c. 0.10
d. 0.02
e. 0.00

48. When dealing with the number of occurrences of an event over a specified interval of
time or space, the appropriate probability distribution is a
a. binomial distribution
b. Poisson distribution
c. normal distribution
d. hypergeometric probability distribution
e. None of the above answers is correct.

49. In a binomial experiment the probability of success is 0.06. What is the probability of
two successes in seven trials?
a. 0.0036
b. 0.06
c. 0.0554
d. 0.28
e. 1.0

50. X is a random variable with the probability function:

f(X) = X/6 for X = 1,2 or 3
The expected value of X is
a. 0.333
b. 0.500
c. 2.000
d. 2.333
e. None of the above answers is correct.

51. Assume that you have a binomial experiment with p = 0.4 and a sample size of 50. The
variance of this distribution is
a. 20
b. 12
c. 3.46
d. Not enough information is given to answer this question.
e. None of the above answers is correct.

10
Exhibit 5-5
Probability Distribution
x f(x)
10 .2
20 .3
30 .4
40 .1

52. Refer to Exhibit 5-5. The expected value of x equals

a. 24
b. 25
c. 30
d. 100
e. None of the above answers is correct.

53. Refer to Exhibit 5-5. The variance of x equals

a. 9.165
b. 84
c. 85
d. 93.33
e. None of the above answers is correct.

Exhibit 5-6
A sample of 2,500 people was asked how many cups of coffee they drink in the morning. You
are given the following sample information.

Cups of Coffee Frequency

0 700
1 900
2 600
3 300
2,500

54. Refer to Exhibit 5-6. The expected number of cups of coffee is

a. 1
b. 1.2
c. 1.5
d. 1.7
e. None of the above answers is correct.

55. Refer to Exhibit 5-6. The variance of the number of cups of coffee is
a. .96
b. .9798
c. 1
d. 2.4
e. None of the above answers is correct.

11
Exhibit 5-7
The probability that Pete will catch fish when he goes fishing is .8. Pete is going to fish 3 days
next week. Define the random variable X to be the number of days Pete catches fish.

56. Refer to Exhibit 5-7. The probability that Pete will catch fish on exactly one day is
a. .008
b. .096
c. .104
d. .8
e. None of the above answers is correct.

57. Refer to Exhibit 5-7. The probability that Pete will catch fish on one day or less is
a. .008
b. .096
c. .104
d. .8
e. None of the above answers is correct.

58. Refer to Exhibit 5-7. The expected number of days Pete will catch fish is
a. .6
b. .8
c. 2.4
d. 3
e. None of the above answers is correct.

59. Refer to Exhibit 5-7. The variance of the number of days Pete will catch fish is
a. .16
b. .48
c. .8
d. 2.4
e. None of the above answers is correct.

Exhibit 5-8
The random variable x is the number of occurrences of an event over an interval of ten minutes.
It can be assumed that the probability of an occurrence is the same in any two time periods of an
equal length. It is known that the mean number of occurrences in ten minutes is 5.3.

60. Refer to Exhibit 5-8. The random variable x satisfies which of the following probability
distributions?
a. normali
b. Poisson
c. binomial
d. Not enough information is given to answer this question.
e. None of the above answers is correct.

12
61. Refer to Exhibit 5-8. The appropriate probability distribution for the random variable is
a. discrete
b. continuous
c. either a or b depending on how the interval is defined
d. not enough information is given
e. None of the above answers is correct.

62. Refer to Exhibit 5-8. The expected value of the random variable x is
a. 2
b. 5.3
c. 10
d. 2.30
e. None of the above answers is correct.
63. Refer to Exhibit 5-8. The probability that there are 8 occurrences in ten minutes is
a. .0241
b. .0771
c. .1126
d. .9107
e. None of the above answers is correct.

64. Refer to Exhibit 5-8. The probability that there are less than 3 occurrences is
a. .0659
b. .0948
c. .1016
d. .1239
e. None of the above answers is correct.

Exhibit 5-9
The probability distribution for the daily sales at Michael's Co. is given below.

Daily Sales
(In $1,000s) Probability
40 0.1
50 0.4
60 0.3
70 0.2

65. Refer to Exhibit 5-9. The expected daily sales are

a. $55,000
b. $56,000
c. $50,000
d. $70,000
e. None of the above answers is correct.

13