Math 1040 Skittles Term Project

Jose Lopez
Salt Lake City Community College
Class Data Collection
Introduction
This project will allow you to pull together many of the concepts you are studying this semester,
including organizing and analyzing data, drawing conclusions using confidence intervals and
hypothesis tests, and presenting your work in a well organized paper. Your overall report will be
a narrative that clearly explains your process and your conclusions. Your included mathematical
calculations may be neatly handwritten and scanned, but overall summaries and written
conclusions must be word processed.
This is the signature assignment for this course. It is to be posted in your e-portfolio as a single
document. Your e-portfolio must be linked through your SLCC MyPage account. See the
specific e-portfolio instructions for details.

Data Collection
Each student in the class will purchase one 2.17-ounce bag of Original Skittles and record the
following data:
Number of
red candies
15

Number of
orange
candies
13

Number of
yellow
candies
13

Number of
green candies
15

Number of
purple
candies
6

Report Introduction
Your report must begin with an introduction explaining the process of the project. Do not
assume that your reader knows in advance what the assignment is about. Get started on your
introduction paragraph. Explain the overall procedures and goals of the assignment in your own
words. Note that you will be editing and adding to this introduction as you proceed through all
the parts of the project.
My class and I are collecting data of how many color of Skittles we got from a regular sized
candy bag. We are studying this by including organized, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions
based on the results we got. We are collecting the data of how much everyone got and separating
them by color.

The following is the collection of data for the whole statistics class. The total number of bags in
the class sample is 27.
Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Purple

Number of each bag

16

10

10

15

59

14

12

14

14

62

11

14

13

10

13

61

11

10

10

16

16

63

14

13

16

61

11

16

12

12

60

12

21

11

57

12

10

15

17

59

12

16

16

10

61

10

13

17

16

58

11

12

15

11

14

60

12

14

16

14

13

62

13

15

13

13

15

62

14

14

14

13

11

61

15

12

20

14

12

64

16

18

11

15

62

17

14

12

14

14

60

18

15

12

12

11

58

19

12

10

16

54

20

17

14

15

12

64

21

10

10

17

13

57

22

21

15

11

60

23

12

12

16

16

61

24

15

17

15

10

64

25

11

10

12

12

13

58

26

12

13

13

11

13

62

27

17

14

14

10

64

Total

317

346

321

352

298

1634

27 bags

Organizing and Displaying Categorical Data: Colors

First, you will determine the proportion of each color within the overall sample gathered by the
class. To do this, you will create a Pie Chart and a Pareto Chart for the numbers of candies of
each color. Note that as you work with this variable, the sample size is the total number of
candies. Your graphics must have descriptive titles and be appropriately labeled. Throughout
this project, represent proportions as decimals rounded to three places.

Write a paragraph discussing your observations of this data. Do the graphs reflect what you
expected to see? Does the overall data collected by the whole class agree with your own data
from a single bag of candies? In addition to the Pie and Pareto charts, include tables showing the
results of your own bag of candies and the results for the entire sample.
The Pie Chart and Pareto Charts I created above show the number of each color of candies we
got from the Skittles bags. Yes the graphs do reflect what I expected to see. I noticed that the
orange and yellow color candies were the ones that everyone had the most. Since those were
ones who average out in my bag.

Organizing and Displaying Quantitative Data: the Number of Candies per Bag
Here we are interested in the mean number of candies per bag. Note that for this variable the
sample size is the total number of bags. Using the total number of candies in each bag in the
class sample, calculate the mean, standard deviation, and 5-number summary. Round the mean
and the values in the 5-number-summary to one decimal place. Round the standard deviation to
two decimal places. Create a frequency histogram and a boxplot for this data. Your graphics
must have descriptive titles and be appropriately labeled.

Rounded number
Mean

60.51851852

Median

61

60.6

Standard de

2.470913415

2.48

Variance

6.105413105

6.2

Range

10

Min

54

Max

64

Q1

59

Q3

62

Write a paragraph discussing your observations of this data. What is the shape of the
distribution? Do the graphs reflect what you expected to see? Does the overall data collected by
the whole class agree with your own data from a single bag of candies? In addition to the
summary statistics and boxplot, include the number of candies from your own bag and the total
number of bags in the sample.
Reflection
Explain the difference between categorical and quantitative data. What types of graphs make
sense and what types of graphs do not make sense for categorical data? For quantitative data?
Explain why. What types of calculations make sense and what types of calculations do not make
sense for categorical data? For quantitative data? Explain why.
The difference between quantitative date and categorical data is that categorical date is countable
numbers of categories, quantitative data on the other had are variables that can be ordered and
measured. I think the categorical data makes a lot more sense to me when we compare it to the
quantitative data. The Pie chart and Pareto Charts show the data more correctly comparing it to
the histogram and boxplot chart. I found it very confusing to use the boxplot chart. Even for the
mathematical part I found it a lot easier to find the proportions instead of finding the 5 number
summary.

Confidence Interval Estimates

Explain in general the purpose and meaning of a confidence interval.
Construct a 99% confidence interval estimate for the true proportion of yellow candies.
Construct a 95% confidence interval estimate for the true mean number of candies per bag.
Construct a 98% confidence interval estimate for the standard deviation of the number of candies
per bag.
A Confidence Interval is a range of values used to estimate the true value of a population
parameter. The reason is to estimate of the population, but as well estimate is a single value that.
The meaning of confidence interval is a range of values so defined that there is a specified
probability that the value of a parameter lies within it.

1. 99% confidence interval estimate for the population proportion of yellow

candies: 0.188 < p < 0.223 There is a 99% certainty that the
true population proportion falls within the range of 18.8% to 22.3%.
2. 95% confidence interval estimate for the population mean number of candies
per bag: 58.611 < u < 61.369 You can be 95% certain that the
true population mean falls within the range of 58.611 to 61.369.
3. 98% confidence interval estimate for the population standard deviation of the
number of candies per bag: 3.732 < S < 5.730 There is a 98%
confidence that the true population standard deviation falls between 3.732
and 5.730.

Hypothesis Tests
Explain in general the purpose and meaning of a hypothesis test.
Use a 0.05 significance level to test the claim that 20% of all Skittles candies are red.
Use a 0.01 significance level to test the claim that the mean number of candies in a bag of
Skittles is 55.

Reflection

Discuss the conditions for doing interval estimates and hypothesis tests and discuss whether or
not your samples met these conditions. What possible errors could have been made by using this
data? How could the sampling method be improved? State what conclusions you have drawn
from your statistical research.
1. Fail to reject there is not enough evidence to support the data.
2. There isnt enough evidence to warrant the rejection of the mean number of candies in a
skittle bag is 55.
The hypothesis claim is able to calculate a sample of a population. The conditions needed for
interval estimates that the population is normally distributes (n>30). The conditions indicate that
all of these samples are taken randomly. The samples meet the requirements our data is from
subset samples that come from a larger set.
Potential errors could have come from counting errors from the skittles in each bag, and
from lack of participation from the counted population. I think we could improve the sampling
method by getting samples from different locations nationwide, this will give us a more accurate
idea. My conclusion is that the number of candies in each skittle bag is close to our mean.
Reflective Writing and e-Portfolio
What have you learned as a result of this project?
Discuss how the math skills that you applied in this project will impact other classes you
will take in your school career.
Identify specific parts of the project and your own process in completing the project that
may have applications for other classes.
Discuss how the project helped to develop your problem solving skills.
Discuss how this project changed the way you think about real-world math applications.
If your thinking was not changed, then discuss how the project supported your views
about real-world math applications.

This project was definitely a challenge. However, it was really enlightening on both a
personal and academic level for me. I gained so much knowledge as a result of finishing this
project. Math is a really hard subject for of me, and its certainly not a class I usually enjoy.
Before this class, I failed to see its use in the real world. This project changed that for me, as it
introduced me to a really interesting, and fun application of the material we were learning in
class. I had no idea how hypothesis testing really worked outside of the homework problems I

was completing. Statistics opened my eyes on how math is used outside of college coursework. I
saw how it can be incorporated into so many other fields, especially those that use surveying,
probabilities, experiments, and other means of testing. I plan on going into the field of nursing,
and I can definitely see how statistics is used in case and population studies to come up with the
reliable medical data healthcare professionals rely on.

Additionally, I learned so much on my personal learning curve in math. I realized the true
importance of knowing the material, and using outside sources for help. I worked with quite a
few of my classmates, which gave me so many different learning styles and perspectives on the
material we were learning. This group learning style is something I will definitely take with me
for the rest of my college career. It helped me so much in all aspects of this project, and I am
really grateful for all the aid I received.