Frequency probability facts for kids

Frequency probability or Frequentism is a way to understand probability. Imagine you do an experiment many, many times. Frequency probability helps you figure out how likely something is to happen by counting how often it actually happens compared to all the times you did the experiment.

For example, if you flip a coin 100 times, you might get heads 52 times. The frequency probability of getting heads would be 52 out of 100, or 0.52. The more times you repeat the experiment, the closer your results usually get to the true probability.

What is Frequency Probability?

Frequency probability, also known as Frequentism, looks at how often an event occurs over a large number of trials. It's like saying, "If I do this enough times, what percentage of the time will this specific thing happen?"

This idea is very important in statistics, which is the science of collecting and analyzing data. Scientists and researchers use frequency probability to make sense of their experiments and observations.

Who Used Frequentism?

People who use this way of thinking about probability are often called Frequentists. Many famous mathematicians and scientists were Frequentists. Some of them include:

• Richard von Mises
• Egon Pearson
• Jerzy Neyman
• R. A. Fisher
• John Venn, who is also famous for creating Venn diagrams. He wrote a book in 1866 called "The Logic of Chance" that explained frequentist probability very well.

Other Ways to Think About Probability

While Frequentism is a very common way to understand probability, it's not the only one. Other important interpretations include:

• Bayesian probability: This approach uses existing knowledge or beliefs to update probabilities as new information comes in.
• Axiomatic probability theory: This is a more mathematical and formal way of defining probability using a set of rules or axioms.

Images for kids

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  John Venn, who provided a thorough explanation of frequentist probability in his book, The Logic of Chance (1866)

See also

In Spanish: Probabilidad frecuentista para niños