Annie Trovato

9 Dec. 2015
Math 1040
Math 1040 Skittles Projects

Total Skittles in a Sample

450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0

Purple

Purple
393

Yelow

Orange

Yellow
389

Red

Green

Orange
377

Red
376

Green
370

Total Skittles: 1905

Summary statistics:
Column
Mean
total

59.53125

Std. dev.
4.6903083

Median
60

Min Max Q1
36

Q3

64 59 61.5

Quantitative Data:
The data collected from 33 students totaled 1905 skittles.
The five number summary for the collective data of each
students bag of skittles is 36, 59, 60, 61.5, and 64. To illustrate
this information, my group created a frequency histogram and
boxplot, which showed that the histogram is skewed to the right
and the boxplot gave us the 5-summary and any possible outliers.
Categorical Data:
The overall class mean was 59.5, which was slightly lower
than the number of candies I receive in my 2.17 ounce bag of
skittles. The graphs and charts were overall what I expected to
see in this small sample population. There was varying numbers
of each color of candy, but there wasnt a significant variance in
the total number of candies in each students bag.
The Pie Chart clearly displays the data values from largest
to smallest. It shows a slight difference in each color of skittles in

a bag. The pie charts my group has created represents the

proportions of each color of skittles.

My Data:
This project involves counting the number of skittles in a
bag. We were asked to calculate the number of skittles and group
them by color. I purchased a 2.17 ounce bag of Skittles and
recorded the data and put it into a pie and Pareto chart below. My
class consisting of 33 students also purchased and recorded there
data. We have been asked to evaluate and compare the number
of skittles we received in our bag of candy and the overall data of
our classmates.
Pie/Pareto Chart

Color
Yellow
Orange
Red
Purple
Green

Number
16
9
13
11
12

Percentage
26.23%
14.75%
21.31%
18.03%
19.67%

Reflection
I think the goal of the project was to help us learn how to
collect, organize, and analyze data, and then draw conclusions
and present the results. This project also taught us a lot about
categorical and quantitative data. Categorical data consist of
names and labels. Pie charts or bar graphs are generally used to
represent categorical data and show proportion and ascending
and descending data. Quantitative data is either discrete or
continuous. Discrete data would represent the number of Skittles
in each bag. Continuous data is associated with measurements
like the weight of the Skittles in a bag. The types of graphs used
to represent quantitative data are often dot plots and frequency
histogram. Frequency histograms represent the frequency of
ranges and intervals. Dot plots are statistical charts that consist

of data points plotted on a fairly simple scale. They are perfect for
representing the variance in skittle colors in a bag.

Reflection (hypothesis tests/confidence interval estimates)

The conditions needed for interval estimates include that the
sample must be random sampling and that the population is
normally distributed. Another requirement for population
proportions is that there are at least 5 successes and at least 5
failures. A confidence interval gives an estimated interval range
of values for that the value of a parameter within the probability.
The purpose is to give us a range of data instead of a single
value. The data we used for this project came from a subset of
samples that were part of a larger set. Some errors could be
possible when collecting data and recording each color of Skittle
and total number of skittles per bag. This problem could be
improved by increasing the sample size and double checking the
numbers of candies in each bag.

After calculating these confidence intervals and hypothesis

tests I have learned that it is extremely crucial to have simple
random sample because it can affect the accuracy and outcome
of the results you get your data. This project has really changed
my way of thinking about real world problems.