Expectation, Variance, Covariance and Correlation Previous Year Questions (PYQs) for GATE DA: 3+ Solved Questions with Step-by-Step Solutions

    Solve 3+ Expectation, Variance, Covariance and Correlation previous year questions for GATE DA with answers and detailed solutions. Free sample questions below.

    Chapter Roadmap: Expectation, Variance, and Covariance

    Your Journey Through This Chapter

    1
    Expectation and Linearity
    The center of mass. LOTUS and the powerful linearity property.
    2
    Variance and Standard Deviation
    Measuring the spread. The computational formula and transformation rules.
    3
    Covariance and Correlation
    Joint variability. Distinguishing between independence and being uncorrelated.
    4
    Transformations and Sums
    Variance of sums, products of independent variables, and linear transformations.

    The Heart of Random Variables: Expectation

    The Expectation (or expected value, or mean) of a random variable , denoted as or , represents the long-run average value or the "center of mass" of its distribution.

    For Discrete Random Variables:
    For Continuous Random Variables:

    Key Intuition: Expectation is a weighted average. Values with higher probability pull the expectation closer to themselves. It does not necessarily have to be a value that can actually take (for example, the expected value of a fair die roll is ).

    Expectation, Variance, Covariance and Correlation: Solved Questions with Step-by-Step Explanations (3 Problems)

    Question 1 · Probability and Statistics MCQ
    Let , where is a standard normal random variable, and are two unknown constants. It is given that


    where denotes the expectation of random variable . The values of are:
    1. A.

    2. B.

    3. C.

    4. D.

    Question 2 · Probability and Statistics MCQ
    Let and be two independent random variables. follows distribution and follows distribution.

    Which of the following options is the variance of ?
    1. A.

      100

    2. B.

      90

    3. C.

      49

    4. D.

      21

    Question 3 · Probability and Statistics NAT
    Two fair coins are tossed independently. X is a random variable that takes a value
    of 1 if both tosses are heads and 0 otherwise. Y is a random variable that takes a
    value of 1 if at least one of the tosses is heads and 0 otherwise.
    The value of the covariance of X and Y is ______ (rounded off to three decimal
    places).

    More previous year questions (pyqs) in this unit

    chapter
    Expectation, Variance, Covariance and Correlation Previous Year Questions (PYQs) for GATE DA: 3+ Solved Questions with Step-by-Step Solutions

    Solve 3+ Expectation, Variance, Covariance and Correlation previous year questions for GATE DA with answers and detailed solutions. Free sample questions belo

    A question from this chapter

    Question 1
    Let , where is a standard normal random variable, and are two unknown constants. It is given that


    where denotes the expectation of random variable . The values of are:
    Question 2
    Let and be two independent random variables. follows distribution and follows distribution.

    Which of the following options is the variance of ?
    Question 3
    Two fair coins are tossed independently. X is a random variable that takes a value
    of 1 if both tosses are heads and 0 otherwise. Y is a random variable that takes a
    value of 1 if at least one of the tosses is heads and 0 otherwise.
    The value of the covariance of X and Y is ______ (rounded off to three decimal
    places).
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