Yaya Toure of the Ivory Coast (...and Manchester City) loses the coin toss against Columbia during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil
PROBABILITY 3
PPDAC & ACTIVITY 3: FIVE DICE
In this section we discuss the general layout of a report and a little about each section of PPDAC. A proper practise example will be done in Probability 3 using the same experiment discussed here.
The mnemonic PPDAC is used to write a statistical report where:
p = problem
p = plan
d = data
a = analysis
c = conclusion
PROBLEM
We need to ask a question and then answer it by doing an experiment. What do you want to find out? A simple question might be "How many 6's would I get if I rolled 5 fair dice? We will explore this activity in detail and learn how to write it using PPDAC later.
PLAN
Explain what you are going to do and how. Decide what information is needed and how it is collected, recorded and analysed. "How many 6's would I expect to get if I rolled 5 dice?" I will repeat the activity 50 times (50 times is the sample size but isn't once enough?) I will list the possible outcomes of my experiment, I could get no sixes, 1 six, 2 sixes, 3 sixes, 4 sixes, or 5 sixes. I will then collect my data in a frequency table. This will enable me to calculate the probability (experiment probability) of how many 6's I would expect to get if I rolled a dice 5 times. I will also graph my data and compare my results with theoretical results.
DATA
Collect the data. How will you analyse it? This is where you do the experiment. Roll 5 dice and record how many 6's are obtained. Continue this process 50 times and complete the frequency table when you are done. Create a chart in your chrome books like this:
fair dice....why?
You can also use an available printed version, it's old technology but it still works.
ANALYSIS
Organise the data into tables and construct appropriate graphs. Transfer your data to the graph so that it looks like a column graph. Technically it should have gaps between the columns like the theoretical one at the bottom of the page. In this section you would comment on what you found based on your data, what does your graph tell you? Has the graph got any sort of shape to it like symmetry or skewing?
CONCLUSION
This is where you answer the investigative question using your statistics and graphs. Explain any variation between what you expected and your actual results. For higher than Achieved you will need to calculate the theoretical probabilities. Could the results of the investigation be applied somewhere else in another situation?