Are Independence and Disjoint Events the Same in Probability?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around understanding the concepts of independence and disjoint events in probability, particularly in the context of a population statistic problem involving educational attainment and employment status.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the definitions and implications of independence versus disjoint events, questioning how these concepts apply to the given statistical scenario. There is an attempt to clarify why one explanation may be more relevant than the other in the context of the problem.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with participants expressing differing views on the relevance of independence versus disjointness in the problem. Some guidance has been offered regarding the definitions of these terms, but there is no explicit consensus on which explanation is superior.

Contextual Notes

There is a mention of a teacher's input indicating that both answers could be considered correct, which adds complexity to the discussion. Additionally, some participants express skepticism about the statistical nature of the problem presented.

mikeyman2010
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I'm working on a question which requires you to understand the difference between Independence and disjoint events. The question is: Suppose 24% of a population have 4 years of college, and 15% are laborers/workers. From this, can you conclude that 0.24 x 0.15 = 0.036=3.6% of the population are laborers or workers who had 4 years of college?

a) No, because the two events are not mutually exclusive (Disjoint Events).
b) No, because the two events are not independent.

My teacher says that technically, the two answers are right, but one explains the question give better than the other. Can anyone explain to me why?
 
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That's something I have learned when I am young. I don't think it is a stat. question.
For 10 people, 1 learned Eng. ,1 learned Maths
Can you conclude that only 1 people have studied before?
 
but then what is the difference between independence and disjoint events?
 
primaryguns response is completely meaningless- ignore it.

One of the things you should have learned in statistics is:

"If A and B are independent events then Prob(A and B)= Prob(A)*prob(B)".

Thus, "No because A and B are not independent" is more relevant than "No because A and B are not mutually disjoint". It happens that A and B are NOT mutually disjoint but that is not the reason the statement is untrue.
 
HallsofIvy said:
primaryguns response is completely meaningless- ignore it.

OOOO Harsh :-D
 
Hey, it was just a warning to "mikeyman2010".
 

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