BUSINESS STATISTICS (DESCRIPTIVE)

EXERCISES 4 FOR CLASS DISCUSSION (from 22nd Sept 2025)

1. The first three central moments of a distribution are 0, 2.5, 0 .7. Find the values of S.D. and
the moment coefficient of skewness.
2. In a certain distribution, the first four moments about the point 4 are - 1.5, 17, - 30 and 308.
Calculate the moment coefficient of skewness.
3. The first three moments of a frequency distribution about origin '5' are - 0.55, 4 .46 and -
0.43. Find the moment coefficient of skewness.
4. Find the moment coefficient of skewness for the following series.

5. Calculate the A.M., coefficient of variation and the moment coefficient of skewness for the
following data;

6. The first four moments about mean of a frequency distribution are 0, 60, - 50 and 8020
respectively. Discuss the kurtosis of the distribution.
7. The μ2 and μ4 for a distribution are found to be 2 and 12 respectively. Discuss the kurtosis
of the distribution.
8. The first four central moments of a distribution are 0, 2.5, 0.7 and 18.75. Test the kurtosis of
the distribution.
9. The standard deviation of symmetric distribution is 3. What must be the value of μ4, so that
the distribution may be mesokurtic?
10. If the first four moments about the value '5' of the variable are -4, 22, -117 and 560, find the
value of β2 and discuss the kurtosis.
11. Compute the value of β2 for the following distribution. Is the distribution platykurtic?

12. Calculate β1 and β2 for the following distribution:

13. E and F are mutually exclusive events. P(E)= 0.4; P(F)= 0.5. Find P(E ∣ F).
14. J and K are independent events. P(J | K)= 0.3. Find P(J).
15. U and V are mutually exclusive events. P(U) = 0.26; P(V) = 0.37. Find:
a. P(U ∩ V) =
b. P(U | V) =
c. P(U ∪ V) =
16. Q and R are independent events.P(Q)= 0.4 and P(Q ∩ R)= 0.1. Find P(R).
17. Forty-eight percent of all Californians registered voters prefer life in prison without parole
over the death penalty for a person convicted of first degree murder. Among Latino
California registered voters, 55% prefer life in prison without parole over the death penalty
for a person convicted of first degree murder. 37.6% of all Californians are Latino. In this
problem, let: C = Californians (registered voters) preferring life in prison without parole over
the death penalty for a person convicted of first degree murder. L = Latino Californians.
Suppose that one Californian is randomly selected.
a. Find P(C).
b. Find P(L).
c. Find P(C | L).
d. In words, what is C | L?
e. Find P(L ∩ C).
f. In words, what is L ∩ C?
g. Are L and C independent events? Show why or why not.
h. Find P(L ∪ C).
i. In words, what is L ∪ C?
j. Are L and C mutually exclusive events? Show why or why not.
18. The following table shows a random sample of musicians and how they learned to play their
instruments.

a. Find P(musician is a female).

b. Find P(musician is a male ∩ had private instruction).
c. Find P(musician is a female ∪ is self taught).
d. Are the events “being a female musician” and “learning music in school” mutually
exclusive events?
19. The probability that a man develops some form of cancer in his lifetime is 0.4567. The
probability that a man has at least one false positive test result (meaning the test comes
back for cancer when the man does not have it) is 0.51. Let: C = a man develops cancer in
his lifetime; P = man has at least one false positive. Construct a tree diagram of the
situation
20. An article in the New England Journal of Medicine, reported about a study of smokers in
California and Hawaii. In one part of the report, the self-reported ethnicity and smoking
levels per day were given. Of the people smoking at most ten cigarettes per day, there were
9,886 African Americans, 2,745 Native Hawaiians, 12,831 Latinos, 8,378 Japanese
Americans, and 7,650 Whites. Of the people smoking 11 to 20 cigarettes per day, there
were 6,514 African Americans, 3,062 Native Hawaiians, 4,932 Latinos, 10,680 Japanese
Americans, and 9,877 Whites. Of the people smoking 21 to 30 cigarettes per day, there
were 1,671 African Americans, 1,419 Native Hawaiians, 1,406 Latinos, 4,715 Japanese
Americans, and 6,062 Whites. Of the people smoking at least 31 cigarettes per day, there
were 759 African Americans, 788 Native Hawaiians, 800 Latinos, 2,305 Japanese
Americans, and 3,970 Whites.
 Complete the table using the data provided.

a. Suppose that one person from the study is randomly selected. Find the probability
that person smoked 11 to 20 cigarettes per day.
b. Find the probability that the person was Latino.
c. In words, explain what it means to pick one person from the study who is “Japanese
American AND smokes 21 to 30 cigarettes per day.” Also, find the probability.
d. In words, explain what it means to pick one person from the study who is “Japanese
American ∪ smokes 21 to 30 cigarettes per day.” Also, find the probability.
e. In words, explain what it means to pick one person from the study who is “Japanese
American | that person smokes 21 to 30 cigarettes per day.” Also, find the probability.
f. Prove that smoking level/day and ethnicity are dependent events.
21. Suppose that you have eight cards. Five are green and three are yellow. The cards are well
shuffled. Suppose that you randomly draw two cards, one at a time, with replacement. Let
G1 = first card is green and Let G2 = second card is green.
a. Draw a tree diagram of the situation.
b. Find P(G1 ∩ G2).
c. Find P(at least one green).
d. Find P(G2 | G1).
e. Are G2 and G1 independent events? Explain why or why not.
22. In the previous problem, Suppose that you randomly draw two cards, one at a time, without
replacement. Let G1 = first card is green and Let G2 = second card is green.
a. Draw a tree diagram of the situation.
b. Find P(G1 ∩ G2).
c. Find P(at least one green).
d. Find P(G2 | G1).
e. Are G2 and G1 independent events? Explain why or why not.
23. The percent of licensed U.S. drivers (from a recent year) that are female is 48.60. Of the
females, 5.03% are age 19 and under; 81.36% are age 20–64; 13.61% are age 65 or over.
Of the licensed U.S. male drivers, 5.04% are age 19 and under; 81.43% are age 20–64;
13.53% are age 65 or over. Complete the following.
a. Construct a table or a tree diagram of the situation.
b. Find P(driver is female).
c. Find P(driver is age 65 or over | driver is female).
d. Find P(driver is age 65 or over ∩ female).
e. In words, explain the difference between the probabilities in part c and part d.
 f. Find P(driver is age 65 or over).
g. Are being age 65 or over and being female mutually exclusive events? How do you
know?
24. Referring to previous problem, Suppose that 10,000 U.S. licensed drivers are randomly
selected.
a. How many would you expect to be male?
b. Using the table or tree diagram, construct a contingency table of gender versus age
group.
c. Using the contingency table, find the probability that out of the age 20–64 group, a
randomly selected driver is female.
25. Approximately 86.5% of Americans commute to work by car, truck, or van. Out of that
group, 84.6% drive alone and 15.4% drive in a carpool. Approximately 3.9% walk to work
and approximately 5.3% take public transportation.
a. Construct a table or a tree diagram of the situation. Include a branch for all other
modes of transportation to work.
b. Assuming that the walkers walk alone, what percent of all commuters travel alone to
work?
c. Suppose that 1,000 workers are randomly selected. How many would you expect to
travel alone to work?
d. Suppose that 1,000 workers are randomly selected. How many would you expect to
drive in a carpool?
26. When the Euro coin was introduced in 2002, two math professors had their statistics
students test whether the Belgian one Euro coin was a fair coin. They spun the coin rather
than tossing it and found that out of 250 spins, 140 showed a head (event H) while 110
showed a tail (event T). On that basis, they claimed that it is not a fair coin.
a. Based on the given data, find P(H) and P(T).
b. Use a tree to find the probabilities of each possible outcome for the experiment of
tossing the coin twice.
c. Use the tree to find the probability of obtaining exactly one head in two tosses of the
coin.
d. Use the tree to find the probability of obtaining at least one head.
 Answers

1. 1.5811,0.1771
2. 0.7017
3. 0.7781
4. 0.7504
5. AM. = 4, C.V. = 35.3553%, coefficient of skewness= 0
6. β2 = 2.2278, Platykurtic
7. β2 = 3, Mesokurtic
8. β2 = 3, Mesokurtic
9. μ4 = 243
10. β2 = 0.8889, Platykurtic
11. β2 = 2.7240, Yes
12. β1 = 0.033, β2 = 2.7
13. Find yourself
14. 0.3
15. Find
16. P(Q ∩ R) = P(Q)P(R), 0.1 = (0.4)P(R), P(R) = 0.25
17.
b. Find
c. 0.376
d. Find
e. C | L means, given the person chosen is a Latino Californian, the person is a
registered voter who prefers life in prison without parole for a person convicted of
first degree murder
f. Find
g. L ∩ C is the event that the person chosen is a Latino California registered voter who
prefers life without parole over the death penalty for a person convicted of first
degree murder.
h. Find
i. 0.6492
j. Find
k. No, because P(L ∩ C) does not equal 0
18.
b. Find
c. P(musician is a male ∩ had private instruction) = 15/130 = 3/26 = 0.12
d. Find
e. P(being a female musician ∩ learning music in school) = 38/130 = 19/65 = 0.29
P(being a female musician)P(learning music in school) = (72/130)(62/130) = 0.26
No, they are not independent because P(being a female musician ∩ learning music
in school) is not equal to P(being a female musician)P(learning music in school)
19.
20.
b. 35,065
a. 35,065/100,450

b. Find

c. To pick one person from the study who is Japanese American AND smokes 21 to 30
cigarettes per day means that the person has to meet both criteria: both Japanese
American and smokes 21 to 30 cigarettes. The sample space should include
everyone in the study. The probability is 4,715/100,450

d. Find

e. To pick one person from the study who is Japanese American given that person
smokes 21-30 cigarettes per day, means that the person must fulfill both criteria and
the sample space is reduced to those who smoke 21-30 cigarettes per day. The
probability is 4715/15,273

f. Find
21. a
b. P(GG) = (5/8)(5/8) = 25/64
c. P(at least one green) = P(GG) + P(GY) + P(YG) = 25/64 + 15/64 + 15/64 = 55/64
d. P(G | G) = 5/8
e. Yes, they are independent because the first card is placed back in the bag before the
second card is drawn; the composition of cards in the bag remains the same from
draw one to draw two
22. Find

23. a

b. P(F) = 0.486
c. P(>64 | F) = 0.1361
d. P(>64 and F) = P(F) P(>64|F) = (0.486)(0.1361) = 0.0661
e. P(>64 | F) is the percentage of female drivers who are 65 or older and P(>64 ∩ F) is
the percentage of drivers who are female and 65 or older.
f. P(>64) = P(>64 ∩ F) + P(>64 ∩ M) = 0.1356
g. No, being female and 65 or older are not mutually exclusive because they can occur
at the same time P(>64 ∩ F) = 0.0661
24. Find
25. a
b. If we assume that all walkers are alone and that none from the other two groups
travel alone (which is a big assumption) we have: P(Alone) = 0.7318 + 0.0390 =
0.7708.
c. Make the same assumptions as in (b) we have: (0.7708)(1,000) = 771
d. (0.1332)(1,000) = 133
26. Find