Random Numbers II
Ben Gunderson (beng@ucla.edu)
Sun, 26 Nov 95 00:39:12 -0800
random variable
A random VARIABLE is a numerical quantity associated with a
chance-influenced experiment or phenomenon. It is random because the
value it takes is not known with certainty before the experiment is
performed or phenomenon observed. The probabilities of its possible
values or outcomes, however, are assumed to be fixed by some probability
law. The law may or may not be known to the experimenter. For example,
suppose an experiment involved tossing a coin six times. The number of
"heads" observed would be a random variable. It would not be known in
advance how many heads would be observed, but the probability of, for
example, four heads being observed would be known.
Geoffrey S. Watson
Bibliography: Goldberg, Samuel, Probability: An Introduction (1987)
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