Math 1100, sect 3. Quiz 4
Pledge: By sending this email, I pledge that my answers are
entirely my own work, based on my own reading.
Instructions: Read the New York Times Magazine article ``The
Odds of That?'' by Lisa Belkin and answer the following questions. Email to
madden@math.lsu.edu before 2:30 PM Monday September 23, or hand in in class.
Provide short (15-word) answers to the following questions.
- According to the article ``The Odds of That,'' what is the true meaning
of the word ``coincidence''?
- What does the ``law of large nubers'' say about unusual events?
- There are 25 people in a doctor's waiting room. What is the better bet:
no two have a birthday on the same day; among the 25, there are two with a
birthday on the same day.
Explain.
- How do scientists explain the fact that humans overreact to coincidences?
- Who is Amos Tversky and what did he do?
- Who is Ruma Falk and what did she do?
- A reporter searches all records of childhood cancer deaths in Indiana during
the last decade and finds that 3 children living on the same street in a mid-sized
town died of leukemia in the same year. You are the editor of a major Indiana
newspaper. Does this story make the front page? Why?
- How has the web affected society's sensitivity to coincidence?
- What is the answer to the last question in the article? Explain.*
- Can a coincidence be {\it statistically significant\/? Why or why not?*
* Unlike the previous questions, the last two may be matters of opinion and
they will be graded accordingly, i.e., a simple, supported statement
of opinion will suffice.