A definition of the possible outcomes of interest from a given experiment?

Question

Options

• AHypothesis Testing
• BNormal Distribution
• CElementary Outcomes
• DRandom Variable

• B
  6% (1)
• C
  6% (1)
• D
  88% (15)

Explanation

Random Variable (D) is correct because a random variable is precisely defined as a rule or mapping that assigns numerical values to the possible outcomes of interest from a random experiment - it formalizes what you are measuring or observing.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• (A) Hypothesis Testing is a decision-making procedure for evaluating claims about a population using sample data - it's a process, not a definition of outcomes.
• (B) Normal Distribution is a specific bell-shaped probability distribution - it describes how probabilities are spread, not what outcomes exist.
• (C) Elementary Outcomes are the individual, indivisible results that make up the sample space, but they don't specifically capture "outcomes of interest" - that selective, numerical framing is what distinguishes a random variable.

Memory tip: Think of a Random Variable as the question you ask about an experiment. Flipping a coin is the experiment; "How many heads?" is your random variable - it picks out the outcomes you care about and assigns them numbers.

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