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There are 8 candidates for a position. The candidates are interviewed independen

ID: 3023686 • Letter: T

Question

There are 8 candidates for a position. The candidates are interviewed independently by each member of a committee that has 4 people on it. A candidate will be hired if she is chosen by at least 3 members of the committee. In reality, the committee members cannot really distinguish among the candidates and just choose at random with no biases.

What is the probability that a candidate will be selected with a unanimous vote (all committee members choose the same person)?


What is the probability that a candidate will be selected with only one dissenting vote (all but one committee members choose the same person)?


What is the probability that a candidate will be selected?

Explanation / Answer

There are 8 candidates for a position. The candidates are interviewed independently by each member of a committee that has 4 people on it. A candidate will be hired if she is chosen by at least 3 members of the committee. In reality, the committee members cannot really distinguish among the candidates and just choose at random with no biases.

What is the probability that a candidate will be selected with a unanimous vote (all committee members choose the same person)?

Probability of getting first rank = 1/8 =0.125

Binomial distribution used

p=0.125    n=4

P(X=x) = (nCx) px (1-p)n-x

P( X=4) = 0.0002

What is the probability that a candidate will be selected with only one dissenting vote (all but one committee members choose the same person)?
p( x=3) = 0.0068

What is the probability that a candidate will be selected?

P(selected) =P(x=3)+P(x=4) =0.0068+0.0002 =0.007