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Statistics Question of the Day

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Tuesday, August 25, 2026

A basketball player practiced free throws for 200 shots. The observed outcomes were: Made (146 shots) and Missed (54 shots). Define a scoring variable XX as follows: X=2X=2 for a made free throw and X=0X=0 for a missed free throw. Using the relative frequencies from these 200 shots as estimated probabilities, what is the expected value of XX based on the empirical distribution?

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A basketball player practiced free throws for 200 shots. The observed outcomes were: Made (146 shots) and Missed (54 shots). Define a scoring variable XX as follows: X=2X=2 for a made free throw and X=0X=0 for a missed free throw. Using the relative frequencies from these 200 shots as estimated probabilities, what is the expected value of XX based on the empirical distribution?

  1. 0.730.73
  2. 292292
  3. 2.002.00
  4. 1.461.46 (correct answer)

Explanation: Empirical expected values involve estimating probabilities from frequencies and computing a weighted average of outcomes. For 200 free throws, made (2 points) 146 times and missed (0 points) 54 times. Estimated probabilities: 146/200 for 2, 54/200 for 0. E[X] = 2*(146/200) + 0*(54/200) = 292/200 = 1.46. This is the average points per shot from the data. The approach emphasizes empirical estimation, where the expected value is the sample mean, a weighted average that approximates the true value and may vary across samples.