A Bright Outlook on College Students' News Consumption Habits

a) What is the probability that a randomly selected college student reads newspapers regularly, given that he or she watches TV news regularly?

(b) What is the probability that a student watches TV news regularly, given that he or she regularly reads newspapers?

Answers:

a) The probability that a randomly selected college student reads newspapers regularly, given that he or she watches TV news regularly is 0.25.

(b) The probability that a student watches TV news regularly, given that he or she regularly reads newspapers is 0.91.

The survey data provides insights into the news consumption habits of college students, revealing that a significant portion of students engage with both newspapers and TV news regularly. From the data, we can calculate the conditional probabilities based on the given events N (reading newspapers regularly) and T (watching TV news regularly).

(a) To calculate the probability that a randomly selected college student reads newspapers regularly given that he or she watches TV news regularly, we use the formula:

P(N|T) = P(N and T) / P(T)

Plugging in the values from the data, we get:

P(N|T) = 0.21 / 0.83 = 0.253 ≈ 0.25 (rounded to two decimal places).

(b) Similarly, to calculate the probability that a student watches TV news regularly given that he or she regularly reads newspapers, we use the formula:

P(T|N) = P(N and T) / P(N)

Calculating with the provided values, we get:

P(T|N) = 0.21 / 0.23 = 0.913 ≈ 0.91 (rounded to two decimal places).

Understanding these probabilities can help in analyzing and predicting the news consumption patterns of college students. Probability plays a crucial role in determining the likelihood of events occurring based on given conditions, making it a valuable concept in various fields.

For further exploration of Probability concepts, you can refer to resources like textbooks, online tutorials, and interactive platforms.