Just the Stats, Man!

This is a quiz question from my Introduction to Statistics class:

“You and your roommate are arguing about whose turn it is to clean the apartment. Your roommate suggests that you settle this by tossing a coin and takes one out of a locked box he has on the shelf. Suspecting that the coin might not be fair, you decide to test it first. You toss the coin 80 times, thinking to yourself that if, indeed, the coin is fair, you should get around 40 heads. Instead you get 48 heads. You are puzzled. You are not sure whether getting 48 heads out of 80 is enough evidence to conclude that the coin is unbalanced, or whether this a result that could have happened just by chance when the coin is fair.

Statistics can help you answer this question.”

I have a few questions of my own:

• Why would I flip a coin 80 times?
• Why would I ever agree to live with a lazy, paranoid slob?
• And how many people have gone insane trying to answer questions like this one?