5.1. What is Probability?
The word probability is often used as a synonym for chance, likelihood, or possibility. These are words that you hear all the time with respect to the behavior of cycle times, safety performance (accidents), or quality of products or services. A probability is just the numeric value representing the chance, likelihood, or possibility that a particular event will occur, such as a defective customer transaction, a cycle time greater than 20 minutes, or an OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) reportable accident. In all these instances, the probability attached is a proportion or fraction whose values range between 0 and 1, inclusively.
The basic elements of probability theory are the individual outcomes ...
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