Checking whether a coin is fair
COMMON EXAMPLE PROBLEM IN STATISTICS
Checking if a coin is biased; Estimator of true probability; Checking whether a coin be fair; Checking if a coin be fair; Checking if a coin is fair
In statistics, the question of checking whether a coin is fair is one whose importance lies, firstly, in providing a simple problem on which to illustrate basic ideas of statistical inference and, secondly, in providing a simple problem that can be used to compare various competing methods of statistical inference, including decision theory. The practical problem of checking whether a coin is fair might be considered as easily solved by performing a sufficiently large number of trials, but statistics and probability theory can provide guidance on two types of question; specifically those of how many trials to undertake and of the accuracy an estimate of the probability of turning up heads, derived from a given sample of trials.