Research Topics:

Decision Research Consultation | Questionnaire Analysis

Content Type:

Glossary

Event (Simple) Definition

Any subset of a sample is called an event. Those subsets containing a single outcome are called simple events. In rolling a die the event might be that an even number is rolled. There are six simple events 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

How do you know if an event is simple or compound?

In probability theory and statistics, an event is a set of outcomes of an experiment to which a probability is assigned. It is essentially any possible result that can occur from a random experiment.

Events can be simple or compound. 

• A simple event is the most basic possible outcome and consists of exactly one outcome of the experiment. It is a specific, distinct result.
• A compound event is an event that includes two or more simple events.

What is an example of a simple event? 

When conducting an experiment, such as rolling a die, each possible outcome is considered a simple event because it represents one single, indivisible outcome. In the example of rolling a die, it can land on one of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. Each of these outcomes is a simple event because it represents one specific result from rolling the die.

Let’s look at an example of a simple event within consumer insights. 

A company is conducting a survey on consumer preferences around flavored beverages. The survey includes a questions where respondents are asked to choose their favorite flavor from a list of options: orange, grape, lime or mango. 

A simple event in this context would be a specific research participant selecting one flavor as their favorite.