Chance At Champions - Brett Chapman (Stats EC)

Unlike many other mathematics classes that I have completed during my four years at SLA, Statistics with Ms. Thompson brings something different. A quadratic equation or second derivative isn't as apparent to a human in everyday life as statistics.  With that, Ms. Thompson has always created a requirement for real life application in our benchmark projects. My favorite statistics benchmark of the year must have been our third quarter benchmark, which required the class to apply our knowledge of probability to the real world.

            In order to accomplish this, Shanice Braxton (my partner) and I decided to find the probability of the Philadelphia Phillies winning the World Series. Before the MLB season started, there was a lot of talk on the Phillies being a favorable team to win the championship so we had to do the math. When dealing with probability, there are two types, theoretical and experimental. Because the Phillies were not actually playing, we had to choose theoretical probability and use past winnings and loses of the team’s franchise history. Therefore, to our surprise the Philadelphia Phillies only had approximately 1.5% of winning the World Series! Besides the mathematics, we represented our data graphically by creating a venn-diagram. Instead of creating a simple venn-diagram of two intersecting circles, we created a diagram of concentric circles (circles within circles) to show that winning the World Series is dependent of going to the World Series, while that is simultaneously dependant upon being in the playoff season to begin with. Other graphics were later added to contribute to our pamphlets design and presentation.

All in all, this project gave us incentive to inquire about probability and present those findings. It also gave us the ability to research and collaborate on applying statistical concepts to the real life situations. Although the theoretical probability of the Phillies winning the World Series is slim, anything can happen and we continue to cheer for them.