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1 Sample Space

The document defines a sample space as the set of all possible outcomes of a statistical experiment. It provides examples of sample spaces for experiments such as tossing a coin, die, or selecting multiple items. The key aspects are that the sample space lists or describes all possible outcomes and provides the most informative representation, such as using a tree diagram.

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Marven Laude
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65 views3 pages

1 Sample Space

The document defines a sample space as the set of all possible outcomes of a statistical experiment. It provides examples of sample spaces for experiments such as tossing a coin, die, or selecting multiple items. The key aspects are that the sample space lists or describes all possible outcomes and provides the most informative representation, such as using a tree diagram.

Uploaded by

Marven Laude
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Sample Space

In the study of statistics, we are concerned basically with the presentation and
interpretation of chance outcomes that occur in a planned study or scientific
investigation. For example, we may record the number of accidents that occur
monthly at the intersection of Driftwood Lane and Royal Oak Drive, hoping to justify
the installation of a traffic, light; we might classify items coining off an assembly line
as "defective" or "non-defective". Hence, the statistician is often dealing with either
experimental data, representing counts or measurements, or perhaps with
categorical data that can be classified according to some criterion.

Definition 2.1: The set of all possible outcomes of a statistical experiment is


called the sample space and is represented by the symbol S.

Each outcome in a sample space is called an element or a member of the sample


space, or simply a sample point. If the sample space has a finite number of elements,
we may list the members separated by commas and enclosed in braces. Thus the:
sample space 6', of possible outcomes when a coin is tossed, may be written:

𝑆 = {𝐻, 𝑇),

where H and T correspond to "heads" and "tails," respectively.

Example 2.1:

Consider the experiment of tossing a die. If we are interested in the number


that shows on the top face, the sample space would be

𝑆1 = {1,2,3,4,5,6}.

If we are interested only in whether the number is even or odd, the sample
space is simply

𝑆2 = {𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛, 𝑜𝑑𝑑}.

Note:
It is desirable to use a sample space that gives the most information
concerning the outcomes of the experiment. In some experiments it is helpful to
list the elements of the sample space systematically by means of a tree diagram.

BUENAFLOR, MADONNA C. | Sample Space


Example 2:

An experiment consists of flipping a coin and then flipping it a second time if a


head occurs. If a tail occurs on the first, flip, then a die is tossed once. To list the
elements of the sample space providing the most information, we construct the tree
diagram. The various paths along the branches of the tree give the distinct sample
points. Starting with the top left branch and moving to the right along the first path,
we get the sample point HH, indicating the possibility that heads occurs on two
successive flips of the coin. Likewise, the sample point TS indicates the possibility that
the coin will show a tail followed by a 3 on the toss of the die. By proceeding along all
paths, we see that the sample space is

𝑆 = {𝐻𝐻. 𝐻𝑇. 𝑇𝐼, 𝑇2, 𝑇3, 𝑇4, 𝑇5, 𝑇6}

Tree diagram

Example 3:

Suppose that three items are selected at random from a manufacturing


process. Each item is inspected and classified defective, D, or non-defective, 𝑁. Using
the tree diagram, we obtained the result:

This sample space is an example of listing of element method.

𝑆 = {𝐷𝐷𝐷, 𝐷𝐷𝑁, 𝐷𝑁𝐷, 𝐷𝑁𝑁, 𝑁𝐷𝐷, 𝑁𝐷𝑁, 𝑁𝑁𝐷, 𝑁𝑁𝑁}.

Sample spaces with a large or infinite number of sample points are best
described by a statement or rule. For example, if the possible outcomes of an
experiment are the set of cities in the world with a population over 1 million, our
sample space is written

𝑆 = {𝑥 | 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎. 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 1 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛},


BUENAFLOR, MADONNA C. | Sample Space
which reads "S is the set of all x such that x is a city with a population over 1 million."
The vertical bar is read "such that."

Exercises:

1. An experiment involves tossing a pair of dice, 1 green and 1 red. and


recording the numbers that come up. If 𝑥 equals the outcome on the green
die and 𝑦 the outcome on the red die, describe the sample space
a. by listing the elements (𝑥, 𝑦)

b. by using the rule method.

2. List the elements of each of the following sample spaces:


a. the set of integers between 1 and 50 divisible by 8:

b. the set S = {x | x2 + 4x - 5 = 0};

c. the set of outcomes when a coin is tossed until a tail or three heads
appear:

d. the set S = {x | a; is a continent};

e. the set. S = {x | 2x - 4 > 0 and X < 1}.

BUENAFLOR, MADONNA C. | Sample Space

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