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Suppose the table summarizes the opinions of various groups on the issue of oil drilling in national parks. Use this table to calculate the empirical probability.

Whites Non-Whites
Opinion Reps. Dems. Reps. Dems. Total
Favor 300 100 30 50 480
Oppose 100 250 20 150 520
Total 400 350 50 200 1000


Given that a randomly selected individual is non-White, find the probability that he or she opposes oil drilling in national parks. (Enter your probability as a fraction.)

User Kevin Beal
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Final answer:

The empirical probability that a randomly selected non-White individual opposes oil drilling in national parks is 17/25, which can also be expressed as 0.68 or 68%.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the empirical probability that a non-White person opposes oil drilling in national parks, we start by examining the data provided. We know the total number of individuals opposing oil drilling is 520, and the total sample size is 1000. We are looking specifically at the non-White population, so we need to consider the number of non-White respondents who oppose drilling in national parks.

The table indicates that there are 20 non-White Republicans and 150 non-White Democrats who oppose drilling, totaling 170 non-White individuals opposing oil drilling. The sum of non-White Republicans and Democrats is 50+200=250. The empirical probability that a randomly selected non-White individual opposes oil drilling in national parks is the number of non-White individuals opposing drilling over the total number of non-White respondents.

To find this probability, we calculate:

\( P(\text{Non-White opposes drilling}) = \frac{\text{Non-White opposing}}{\text{Total Non-White}} = \frac{170}{250} \)

This simplifies to:

\( P(\text{Non-White opposes drilling}) = \frac{17}{25} \)

Therefore, the empirical probability is \( \frac{17}{25} \), which could also be written in decimal form as 0.68, or 68% if one were to express it as a percentage.

User Cauder
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