Question

According to the book of odds, the probability that a randomly selected US adult usually eats breakfast is 0.61.

a) Explain what probability 0.61 means in this setting.


b) Why doesn’t this probability say that if 100 US adults are chosen at random, exactly 61 of them usually don’t eat breakfast?

Answer 1

a) This means that if you were to take a large sample of US adults and inquire them about having breakfast, about 61%(i.e. 0.61) will say that they usually have breakfast.

b) It is, for sure, expected that if we take a sample of 100, around 61% of these americans will say that they usually eat breakfast. But if the number will be 61 exactly is not a certainty and it will vary from sample to sample.

The probability of finding such people will get closer to 0.61 as the sample gets bigger.

Step-by-step explanation:

Explanation has been provided in the answers above due to their descriptive nature.