Question

HOW DO YOU DETERMINE IF ITS TRUE OR FALSE WHEN DEALING WITH BINOMINAL VARIABLES

Answer 1

The binomial distribution model is an important probability model that is used when there are two possible outcomes (hence "binomial"). In a situation in which there were more than two distinct outcomes, a multinomial probability model might be appropriate.

For example, adults with allergies might report relief with medication or not, children with a bacterial infection might respond to antibiotic therapy or not, adults who suffer a myocardial infarction might survive the heart attack or not, a medical device such as a coronary stent might be successfully implanted or not.

These are just a few examples of applications or processes in which the outcome of interest has two possible values (i.e., it is dichotomous). The two outcomes are often labeled "success/True" and "failure/false" with success/True indicating the presence of the outcome of interest. Note, however, that for many medical and public health questions the outcome or event of interest is the occurrence of disease, which is obviously not really a success. Nevertheless, this terminology is typically used when discussing the binomial distribution model. As a result, whenever using the binomial distribution, we must clearly specify which outcome is the "success/True" and which is the "failure/false".