Statistical regularity has motivated the development of the relative frequency concept of probability. Statistical regularity is a notion in statistics that if we throw a thumbtack onto a table once, we would have a hard time predicting whether the point would touch the surface of the table or not. ... In a series of observations, or trials, the relative frequency of occurrence of an event is calculated as: The of an event over a long series of trials is the conceptual foundation of the frequency interpretation of probability. ... The word probability has been used in a variety of ways since it was first coined in relation to games of chance. ...

Most of the procedures commonly used to make statistical estimates or tests were developed by statisticians who used this concept exclusively. They are usually called frequentists, and their position is called frequentism. A statistician who uses traditional methods of inference is therefore referred to as a frequentist statistician. Frequentism is still, by far, the most commonly held view among working statisticians and probability theorists.

This school is often associated with the names of Jerzy Neyman and Egon Pearson who described the logic of statistical hypothesis testing. Other influential figures of the frequentist school include John Venn, R.A. Fisher, and Richard von Mises. Jerzy Neyman was a Polish mathematician (April 16, 1894, in Bendery, Moldova -- August 5, 1981, in Oakland, Calif). ... Egon Sharpe Pearson (11 August 1895 — 12 June 1980) a son of Karl Pearson, was like his father, a British statistician, and succeeded him as professor of statistics at University College London. ... One may be faced with the problem of making a definite decision with respect to an uncertain hypothesis which is known only through its observable consequences. ... John Venn (August 4, 1834 - April 4, 1923), was a British mathematician, who is famous for conceiving the Venn diagrams, which are used in many fields, including set theory, probability, logic, statistics, and computer science. ... Sir Ronald Fisher Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher, FRS (February 17, 1890–July 29, 1962) was an extraordinarily talented evolutionary biologist, geneticist and statistician. ... // Richard von Mises Richard von Mises. ...

See also

• probability interpretations
• Bayesian probability
• eclectic probability
• probability
• statistics
• statistical regularity
• probability axioms
• games of chance

The word probability has been used in a variety of ways since it was first coined in relation to games of chance. ... Bayesianism is the philosophical tenet that the mathematical theory of probability applies to the degree of plausibility of a statement. ... Many statisticians adopt an eclectic view of the debate between proponents of the frequency interpretation of probability and proponents of personal probability. ... The word probability derives from the Latin probare (to prove, or to test). ... Statistics is a type of data analysis which practice includes the planning, summarizing, and interpreting of observations of a system possibly followed by predicting or forecasting of future events based on a mathematical model of the system being observed. ... Statistical regularity is a notion in statistics that if we throw a thumbtack onto a table once, we would have a hard time predicting whether the point would touch the surface of the table or not. ... The probability of some event (denoted ) is defined with respect to a universe or sample space of all possible elementary events in such a way that must satisfy the Kolmogorov axioms. ... A game of chance is a game whose outcome is strongly influenced by some randomizing device, and upon which contestants frequently wager money. ...

External links

• http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/probability-interpret/

References

• John Venn, The Logic of Chance, 1866
• Richard von Mises, Probability, Statistics, and Truth, 1939 (German original 1928)
• Hans Reichenbach, The Theory of Probability, 1949 (German original 1935)