ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A STATISTICIAN?
Or a reporter?
I heard on the radio news last night that some state’s pick 3 lottery had yielded the same winner winning number two nights in a row. According to “some statisticians,” the odds of this happening are one in a million. If s/he really said that, the authorities ought to pull her/his stats license.
I’m sure, though, that there are some missing data.
Here’s my imagined Q & A of the unknown statistician:
Reporter: What are the odds that 6-4-2 would be drawn two nights in a row?
Statistician: 1,000,000 to 1. But is that really the question you want to ask? Or did you really mean what are the odds of drawing the same number twice in a row? That’s a different question with different odds. That one’s only 1,000 to 1.
Reporter: Errrrr. 1,000,000 to 1. Got it.
5 Responses to “ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A STATISTICIAN?”
![]() Comment by JJ Ross January 23rd, 2009 at 8:40 am |
🙂 So the odds would in part depend on that person’s playing habits, how much skin got put in the game? |
![]() Comment by Daryl Cobranchi January 23rd, 2009 at 8:45 am |
Same winning number. I’ve fixed it. Thanks. |
![]() Comment by Traci January 23rd, 2009 at 11:37 am |
Delaware has some special lottery drawing in JAN for a New Year Prize. This year 2009 somehow the winning numbers from last year 2008 were re-announced instead of the winning numbers drawn for this Year 2009. |
![]() Comment by john January 27th, 2009 at 4:01 pm |
Is the order significant? |
![]() Comment by Daryl Cobranchi January 27th, 2009 at 7:04 pm |
The order of what? The winning digits? |