Outcome
An outcome is a single possible result of one trial, and the collection of every outcome for that trial is the sample space.
Outcomes are the smallest pieces of a chance process, and an event is just a set of outcomes grouped together because you care about them. Rolling a fair six-sided die has six outcomes, 1 through 6, and the event roll an even number is made of the three outcomes 2, 4, and 6, so its probability is . The probabilities of all the outcomes in a sample space always add to 1. Outcomes do not have to be equally likely, even though the die example happens to be.
Where this comes up
- How to find expected value (step by step)Guide
- AP Stats 2.4: Introduction to ProbabilityAP topic
- How to design and run a simulation (5 steps)Guide
- Probability vs odds: how to convert between themGuide
- P(A|B) vs P(B|A): which conditional do I need?Guide
- How to tell if a situation is binomial: 4 checksGuide
- Why 10 successes and 10 failures? Large Counts ruleGuide
- Binomial vs geometric: how to tell them apartGuide
21 pages on the site use this term.
More probability terms, or browse the full statistics glossary.