There is evidence to suggest that human beings are not very good random number generators. In this activity, you will investigate this phenomenon by collecting and analyzing a set of human-generated “random” digits. For this activity, work in a group with four or five other students.

1. Each member of the group should complete this step individually. Ask 25 different people to pick a digit from 0 to 9 at random. Record the responses.

2. Combine the responses you collected with those of the other members of your group to form a single sample. Summarize the resulting data in a one-way frequency table.

3. If people are adept at picking digits at random, what would you expect for the proportion of the responses in the sample that were 0? that were 1?

4. State a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis that could be tested to determine whether there is evidence that the 10 digits from 0 to 9 are not selected an equal proportion of the time when people are asked to pick a digit at random.

5. Carry out the appropriate hypothesis test, and write a few sentences indicating whether or not the data support the theory that people are not good random number generators.