analysis

As of the 23rd May 2022 this website is archived and will receive no further updates.

was produced by the Winton programme for the public understanding of risk based in the Statistical Laboratory in the University of Cambridge. The aim was to help improve the way that uncertainty and risk are discussed in society, and show how probability and statistics can be both useful and entertaining.

Many of the animations were produced using Flash and will no longer work.

Maths of coincidence

In What are the chances? we saw how the chance of a rare event occurring could be calculated for specific problems.

Why coincidences happen

When we experience a surprising event and wonder about the likelihood of such a coincidence, we may be able to use probability theory to work out the chance of it happening. And whether the coincidence happens to us or to someone else, we need to take into account how many opportunities there are for it to happen.

Refining Lottery Tests

National Lottery Level 3 showed how the standard $\chi^2$ goodness-of-fit statistic could be adjusted to allow for non-independence induced by the need to have exactly six unique numbers appear at each draw.