One of the courses being offered during the 2014 Greece program is Statistics. The topics covered this week included Permutations and Combinations. Below is a quick description of each along with an example of how we applied these topics during our Study Abroad program in Greece.

Permutations are sets of possible arrangements in which order matters. For example a “combination” lock is actually a permutation because it matters which order you put the numbers or letters to get it open.

Combinations are sets of possible arrangements in which order does not matter. For example the game musical chairs, there are many orders people can sit in the chairs when the music turns off but it doesn’t matter which order you are in when you sit down just as long as you get a chair.

So lets say a group of Study Abroad students just finish lunch and need a ride home. How many ways can 12 students be taken home in groups of 3? If order matters(permutation) 12 P 3 which calculates to 320 possibilities. If order did not matter(combination) 12 C 3 which calculates to 220 possibilities.

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