Probability functions and densities, distribution functions, mathematical expectation, marginal and conditional distributions, conditional expectation - One Line Questions
1.
What is the range of a probability density function (PDF) for a continuous random variable? —
[0, ∞)
2.
If f(x, y) is the joint PDF of continuous random variables X and Y, what is the marginal PDF of Y, f_Y(y)? —
∫ f(x, y) dx over all x
3.
What is the value of F(-∞) for any cumulative distribution function F(x)? —
0
4.
The definition of a probability density function (PDF) f(x) for a continuous random variable X implies that P(X=a) for any specific value 'a' is: —
0
5.
What is the value of F(∞) for any cumulative distribution function F(x)? —
1
6.
For a discrete random variable X, the sum of probabilities P(X=x) over all possible values of x must equal: —
1
7.
Consider two events A and B. If P(A|B) = P(A), what can be concluded about the events? —
A and B are independent
8.
What does a probability function assign to each outcome in a sample space? —
A numerical value representing the likelihood of the outcome
9.
In the context of mathematical expectation, what does E(c) represent, where 'c' is a constant? —
c
10.
What is the conditional expectation E(X|Y=y) if X and Y are independent? —
E(X)
11.
If X and Y are random variables, what is E(X + Y)? —
E(X) + E(Y)
12.
If X and Y are independent, what is the conditional expectation E(Y|X=x)? —
E(Y)
13.
The law of total expectation states that E(Y) can be computed by averaging the conditional expectation of Y given X over all possible values of X. This is represented as: —
E(Y) = E[E(Y|X)]
14.
Consider the joint PDF f(x, y) of X and Y. The conditional PDF f_{Y|X}(y|x) is proportional to: —
f(x, y)
15.
If X and Y are continuous random variables with joint PDF f(x, y), what is the conditional PDF of Y given X=x, denoted by f_{Y|X}(y|x)? —
f(x, y) / f_X(x), provided f_X(x) > 0
16.
If X and Y are independent random variables, what is the relationship between their joint PDF f(x, y) and marginal PDFs f_X(x) and f_Y(y)? —
f(x, y) = f_X(x) * f_Y(y)
17.
What is the distribution function (also known as the cumulative distribution function or CDF) of a random variable X, denoted by F(x)? —
F(x) = P(X ≤ x)
18.
For a continuous random variable X, its probability density function f(x) must satisfy two conditions. What are they? —
f(x) ≥ 0 for all x, and the integral of f(x) over its entire range is 1
19.
Which of these is NOT a property of a cumulative distribution function (CDF), F(x)? —
F(x) is always positive
20.
Which of the following is a fundamental property of a cumulative distribution function F(x)? —
F(x) is non-decreasing
21.
What is the concept of conditional expectation used to model? —
How the average value of one variable changes when another variable's value is known
22.
For two continuous random variables X and Y with joint PDF f(x, y), how is the marginal PDF of X, denoted by f_X(x), obtained? —
Integrate f(x, y) with respect to y over its entire range
23.
What is the property E(aX + b) = aE(X) + b known as, where 'a' and 'b' are constants? —
Linearity of Expectation
24.
The marginal distribution of a random variable describes its probability distribution independently of what? —
Other random variables in the system
25.
The expected value of a Bernoulli random variable with parameter p is: —
p
26.
What is the conditional probability of event A occurring given that event B has already occurred, denoted by P(A|B)? —
P(A ∩ B) / P(B), provided P(B) > 0
27.
The Bayes' Theorem relates conditional probabilities. If we have P(A|B) and P(B), what can we find using Bayes' Theorem? —
P(B|A)
28.
For two discrete random variables X and Y, what is the conditional probability mass function of Y given X=x, denoted by P(Y=y | X=x)? —
P(X=x, Y=y) / P(X=x), provided P(X=x) > 0
29.
For a discrete random variable X, the probability mass function (PMF) is denoted by P(X=x). What property must P(X=x) satisfy for all x? —
P(X=x) ≥ 0 and Σ P(X=x) = 1
30.
When X and Y are independent, what is the conditional probability P(Y=y | X=x)? —
P(Y=y)
31.
What is the primary difference between a probability mass function (PMF) and a probability density function (PDF)? —
All of the above
32.
Which function is used to define the probability distribution for continuous random variables? —
Probability Density Function (PDF)
33.
Consider a joint probability distribution function P(X=x, Y=y) for two discrete random variables X and Y. What is the marginal probability mass function of X, denoted by P(X=x)? —
Sum of P(X=x, Y=y) over all possible values of y
34.
The marginal distribution of X can be obtained from the joint distribution P(X=x, Y=y) by: —
Summing over all possible values of Y
35.
The expectation of the sum of two random variables is equal to the sum of their expectations. This is a statement of: —
The Additivity of Expectation
36.
For continuous random variables, the conditional expectation E(Y|X=x) is calculated using which function? —
The conditional probability density function f_{Y|X}(y|x)
37.
What is the mathematical expectation of a constant random variable? —
The constant itself
38.
A key property of conditional expectation is E[E(Y|X)] = E(Y). What does this property signify? —
The expected value of the conditional expectation of Y given X is equal to the overall expected value of Y
39.
What is the conditional expectation of Y given X=x, denoted by E(Y|X=x), for discrete random variables? —
The expected value of Y calculated using the conditional probability mass function P(Y=y | X=x)
40.
If X is a continuous random variable with PDF f(x), how is its mathematical expectation E(X) calculated? —
The integral of x * f(x) over the entire range of X
41.
What does the mathematical expectation of a random variable represent? —
The long-run average value of the random variable
42.
In a joint distribution of X and Y, P(X=x | Y=y) represents what? —
The probability of X taking value 'x' given that Y has taken value 'y'
43.
What does the conditional distribution P(X=x | Y=y) describe? —
The probability of X=x for a fixed value of Y=y
44.
What is the domain of a probability function for a discrete random variable? —
The set of all possible outcomes
45.
What is the mathematical expectation of a discrete random variable X, denoted by E(X)? —
The sum of each possible value multiplied by its probability
46.
The cumulative distribution function F(x) is always a function of what variable? —
The upper limit of the probability range
47.
If P(A ∩ B) = P(A) * P(B), what is the relationship between events A and B? —
They are independent
48.
What is the primary purpose of a probability density function (PDF) for a continuous random variable? —
To describe the relative likelihood for a continuous random variable to take on a given value
49.
The integral of the cumulative distribution function F(x) from -∞ to ∞ must be: —
Undefined (as F(x) is not a PDF)
50.
If X is a discrete random variable and g(X) is a function of X, what is E[g(X)]? —
Σ g(x) P(X=x) over all x