ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Coefficient of coincidence

Okay, kiddo, have you ever played a matching game with cards or pictures? The coefficient of coincidence is kind of like that.

Let's say you have two sets of cards – one set has pictures of cats and the other set has pictures of dogs. If you shuffle the cards and pick one card from each set, there are chances that you might select a card that has a cat on one set and a dog on the other set.

The coefficient of coincidence is used to find out the likelihood of two events happening together. In the card game, it would be the chances of selecting a cat and a dog simultaneously.

Now, this concept is used in genetics or biology to study the likelihood of two different traits being passed down from parents to offspring.

For instance, if a person has two different genes, one for brown eyes and another for blue eyes, and they have a child with someone who also has genes for the same two eye colors, what are the chances that the child will inherit one gene for blue eyes and one for brown eyes? The coefficient of coincidence helps researchers to determine the likelihood of such an event.

So, think of the coefficient of coincidence as a way to find out how often two different things happen together. Whether it is picking matching cards from two different sets or studying the traits that are passed down from our parents, it is an essential concept that helps us understand the probability of different outcomes.