19.01.2015 Views

Statistics for Decision- Making in Business - Maricopa Community ...

Statistics for Decision- Making in Business - Maricopa Community ...

Statistics for Decision- Making in Business - Maricopa Community ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Conditional probability is quite useful when used <strong>in</strong> the correct way. The counter<strong>in</strong>tuitive<br />

problem below will allow us to shed light on how important it really is to th<strong>in</strong>k about<br />

dependencies.<br />

Example 7: As part of a narcotics checkpo<strong>in</strong>t, officers randomly search freight trucks <strong>for</strong><br />

shipments of illegal drugs. The officers search a small number of crates <strong>in</strong> the trucks that are<br />

chosen <strong>for</strong> random <strong>in</strong>spection. Suppose that, unbeknownst to the officers, there are two trucks<br />

ahead, one of which conta<strong>in</strong>s one crate with illegal drugs. This truck has a total of 8 crates, while<br />

the truck without drugs has a total of 5 crates. One of the two trucks will be randomly chosen.<br />

What is the probability that the officers f<strong>in</strong>d the drugs<br />

SOLUTION: At first, it is tempt<strong>in</strong>g to say that the probability is , however this is not accurate.<br />

The probability that the officers f<strong>in</strong>d the crate with drugs is dependent on them choos<strong>in</strong>g the<br />

correct truck first!<br />

Let<br />

Two th<strong>in</strong>gs must happen: they must choose the correct truck and they must choose the correct<br />

crate. Randomly choos<strong>in</strong>g one of the two trucks is equiprobable, ( ) . If the correct truck is<br />

chosen, then the probability of choos<strong>in</strong>g the correct crate is , that is, ( )<br />

( ) ( ) ( )<br />

Why is it not valid to say 1/13 It might appear that probability is simply pull<strong>in</strong>g a “fast one” on<br />

our <strong>in</strong>tuition.<br />

A simple way to th<strong>in</strong>k about it is as follows: there is not just one random process here. If all the<br />

crates were <strong>in</strong> the same truck, there would <strong>in</strong>deed be a 1/13 chance that we‟d get the right crate.<br />

However, there are two random processes here. If you don‟t choose the correct truck, then<br />

choos<strong>in</strong>g the correct crate is impossible. The likelihood of the second random process lead<strong>in</strong>g to<br />

the correct crate is <strong>in</strong>deed deeply affected by the outcome of the first random process!<br />

Example 8: Reconsider Example 7:: Let‟s say that the second truck had two crates with<br />

shipments of drugs. As be<strong>for</strong>e, one of the two trucks will be randomly chosen. What is the<br />

probability that the officers f<strong>in</strong>d the drugs<br />

SOLUTION:<br />

<strong>Statistics</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Decision</strong>-<strong>Mak<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> Bus<strong>in</strong>ess © Milos Podmanik Page 114

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!