Packed with practical tips and techniques for solving probability problems
Increase your chances of acing that probability exam -- or winning at the casino!
Whether you're hitting the books for a probability or statistics course or hitting the tables at a casino, working out probabilities can be problematic. This book helps you even the odds. Using easy-to-understand explanations and examples, it demystifies probability -- and even offers savvy tips to boost your chances of gambling success!
Discover how to
* Conquer combinations and permutations
* Understand probability models from binomial to exponential
* Make good decisions using probability
* Play the odds in poker, roulette, and other games
By:
Deborah J. Rumsey
Imprint: Wiley
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 231mm,
Width: 188mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 522g
ISBN: 9780471751410
ISBN 10: 0471751413
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 17 March 2006
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction 1 Part I: The Certainty of Uncertainty: Probability Basics 7 Chapter 1: The Probability in Everyday Life 9 Chapter 2: Coming to Terms with Probability 19 Chapter 3: Picturing Probability: Venn Diagrams, Tree Diagrams, and Bayes’ Theorem 39 Part II: Counting on Probability and Betting to Win 65 Chapter 4: Setting the Contingency Table with Probabilities 67 Chapter 5: Applying Counting Rules with Combinations and Permutations 77 Chapter 6: Against All Odds: Probability in Gaming 103 Part III: From A to Binomial: Basic Probability Models 129 Chapter 7: Probability Distribution Basics 131 Chapter 8: Juggling Success and Failure with the Binomial Distribution 151 Chapter 9: The Normal (but Never Dull) Distribution 167 Chapter 10: Approximating a Binomial with a Normal Distribution 187 Chapter 11: Sampling Distributions and the Central Limit Theorem 201 Chapter 12: Investigating and Making Decisions with Probability 221 Part IV: Taking It Up a Notch: Advanced Probability Models 233 Chapter 13: Working with the Poisson (a Nonpoisonous) Distribution 235 Chapter 14: Covering All the Angles of the Geometric Distribution 251 Chapter 15: Making a Positive out of the Negative Binomial Distribution 261 Chapter 16: Remaining Calm about the Hypergeometric Distribution 273 Part V: For the Hotshots: Continuous Probability Models 283 Chapter 17: Staying in Line with the Continuous Uniform Distribution 285 Chapter 18: The Exponential (and Its Relationship to Poisson) Exposed 299 Part VI: The Part of Tens 311 Chapter 19: Ten Steps to a Better Probability Grade 313 Chapter 20: Top Ten (Plus One) Probability Mistakes 323 Appendix: Tables for Your Reference 333 Index 343
Deborah Rumsey has a PhD in Statistics from The Ohio State University (1993). Upon graduating, she joined the faculty in the Department of Statistics at Kansas State University, where she won the distinguished Presidential Teaching Award and earned tenure and promotion in 1998. In 2000, she returned to Ohio State and is now a Statistics Education Specialist/Auxiliary Faculty Member for the Department of Statistics. Dr. Rumsey has served on the American Statistical Association's Statistics Education Executive Committee and is the Editor of the Teaching Bits section of the Journal of Statistics Education. She's the author of the books Statistics For Dummies and Statistics Workbook For Dummies (Wiley). She also has published many papers and given many professional presentations on the subject of Statistics Education. Her particular research interests are curriculum materials development, teacher training and support, and immersive learning environments. Her passions, besides teaching, include her family, fishing, bird watching, driving a new Kubota tractor on the family farm, and Ohio State Buckeye football (not necessarily in that order).
