- #36
JeffJo
- 143
- 25
That's already accounted for. Assuming the requirement R is "one is a boy" in the simpler problem, without "Tuesday"jarednjames said:But the odds of having two boys are half of having only one boy, so there's no gain in advantage.
- P(two boys and R) = P(R|two boys)*P(two boys) = 1*(1/4) = 1/4
- P(one boy and R) = P(R|one boy)*P(one boy) = 1*(1/2) = 1/2
- P(no boys and R) = P(R|no boys)*P(no boys) = 0*(1/4) = 0
But if you add an additional requirement that any given boy has a a small probability Q to satisfy, the two-boy family has a 2Q-Q^2 chance (for two boys that could meet it, but you don't want to double-count the Q^2 chance that both do):
- P(two boys and R) = P(R|two boys)*P(two boys) = (2Q-Q^2)*(1/4) = Q/2 - <small> = ~Q/2
- P(one boy and R) = P(R|one boy)*P(one boy) = Q*(1/2) = Q/2
- P(no boys and R) = P(R|no boys)*P(no boys) = 0*(1/4) = 0
That is what happens when you require the information in the problem to be true before you select a family. If you merely observe it, represented by O,
- P(two boys and O) = P(O|two boys)*P(two boys) = 1*(1/4) = 1/4
- P(one boy and O) = P(O|one boy)*P(one boy) = (1/2)*(1/2) = 1/4
- P(no boys and O) = P(O|no boys)*P(no boys) = 0*(1/4) = 0
- P(two boys and O) = P(O|two boys)*P(two boys) = Q*(1/4) = 1/4
- P(one boy and O) = P(O|one boy)*P(one boy) = (Q/2)*(1/2) = Q/4
- P(no boys and O) = P(O|no boys)*P(no boys) = 0*(1/4) = 0