Conditional Probabilities: Learn It 1

  • Describe and find conditional probabilities.
  • Understand the concept of independent events.
When the outcomes of the sample space are equally likely, the probability of an event is the number of outcomes in the event divided by the number of possible outcomes in the sample space.

[latex]P(\text{event}) = \dfrac{\text{number of outcomes in event}}{\text{number of all possible outcomes}}[/latex]

A woman playing with blocks with a group of children.
Figure 1. Childcare support plays a vital role in the lives of families. Survey data helps policymakers understand public opinion on funding for services like these.

The General Social Survey (GSS) is a project of the independent research organization, National Opinion Research Center (NORC), at the University of Chicago, with principal funding from the National Science Foundation. [1]

In 2018, the GSS asked survey respondents whether the United States’ spending on alternative energy was too little, about right, or too much. Similarly, respondents were also asked whether the United States’ spending on childcare was too little, about right, or too much.

So, what is conditional probability?

What we mean by conditional is that a condition might be provided that can reduce the sample space. Let’s explore conditional probability on the next page. 

  1. About GSS Data Explorer. (n.d.). GSS Data Explorer. Retrieved from gssdataexplorer.norc.org ↵