3 Random Draws

  1. The most important, fundamental, basic, and central concept in all of probability and statistics is that of making a single random draw from a given population.
  2. At the same time, despite its fundamental importance, there are many mistakes, misconceptions and misunderstandings about this operation in current formulations.
  3. Probability is of central importance in understanding a random draw. Unfortunately, the two main current approaches to defining probability -- Frequentist/Objectivist & Bayesian/Subjectivist -- are both wrong.
  4. This text provides new definitions which fix problems with conventional approaches. Those students who have already studied the subject elsewhere should concentrate carefully on the definitions being given, as they are quite different from those they would have studied. New students dont have to worry, since our new definitions are much easier to understand than those found in current textbooks. However, when consulting other probability texts, they should be aware that they will encounter different ways to define things from what they have learned here. However, there should be no difficulty in making the adjustments required to understand standard textbooks.

S1: Simple Random Draw: All members of population have equal chance.

S2: EXCEL-based methods for making a random draw.

S3: Probabilities and Percentages

S4: Random Variables

S5: Uniform Random Variables.