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Karl Pearson once tossed a fair coin 24,000 times and recorded 12,012 heads, a demonstration of a key statistical principle. What does that principle state?
AEvery coin toss must alternate between heads and tails
BA fair coin always lands heads exactly half the time
CRelative frequency drifts toward the theoretical probability
DSmall samples always predict long-run averages precisely
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. Relative frequency drifts toward the theoretical probability
1. Pearson's 24,000 tosses produced 12,012 heads, a relative frequency very close to the theoretical 0.5.
2. This experiment illustrates the Law of Large Numbers.
3. That law states that as trials increase, the gap between relative frequency and theoretical probability shrinks toward zero.
4. Options A, B, and D each overstate what probability guarantees about any individual toss or small run of tosses.
_Source: OpenStax Introductory Statistics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 4 "Discrete Random Variables", section 4.2 Mean or Expected Value and Standard Deviation_
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