Angela Hurdsman

Math 1010
Skittles Project
In our Introduction to Statistics class this semester, we are doing a
Skittles project. This project will consist of organizing and displaying
categorical data and displaying Quantitative data. We will be obtaining
this data from sorting our own bag of skittles and then also by using
the data from everyones skittle data as a whole. The procedure is that
we will be taking the proportion of each color and using them to create
a Pie Chart and a Pareto Chart. We will also be using the data from the
skittles to calculate class sample, the mean, standard deviation, and 5
number summary. I will be editing and adding more to this
introduction as I proceed through all parts of the project.

12%

17%
Red
Green

22%

Orange
Yellow

31%

Purple

19%

Summary statistics:
Colum n
n
var2

Mean

Std.
dev.

1 59.82352 2.88
7 9

Media Rang Mi Ma Q Q IQ
n
e
n x 1 3 R
61

11

53 64

5 6 3
8 1

Class Skittles Data

Color
Red
Orange
Green
Purple
Yellow
Total

Count
195
205
205
181
204
1017

Proportion
Total
19%
20%
20%
18%
20%

The data that I have observed within these graphs is what I

expected to see. I predicted and expected the amount of each color of
skittles to be fairly even. The percentages of the amount of skittles are
pretty even, with the exception of green. The percentage of that color
was about 30%. The total number of skittles in my bag was 59, the
total number of skittles bags in the class was 18.
The difference between categorical data and quantitative data is that
Quantitative variables are variables that can be measured. Categorical data

Categorical data is when numbers are collected or gathered into groups

Graphing quantitative data is best when it is done with dot plots, bar graphs, stem leaf
plots, box plots and histograms. These graphs can be used to measure the quantity of a
certain variable. A bar graph can work for both quantitative and categorical data, but it
does not make sense to use a pie chart for quantitative data because it compares the
categories as a whole. A pie chart can show the percentage of the skittles, but cannot
effectively be used to show the number of skittles in the bag.
Confidence Interval Estimates:
The general purpose and meaning of a confidence interval is it is a range of
values so defined that there is a specified probability that the value of a
parameter lies within it. The most common probabilities are 95% and 99%.
Hypothesis Testing:
Hypothesis testing is a statistical test used to determine whether there is
enough evidence in a sample of data to infer that a condition is true for the entire
population. A hypothesis test examines two different hypothesis about a
population. The two alternative hypothesis are the null hypothesis and the
alternative hypothesis.

Construct a 99% Confidence Interval estimate for the true proportion of yellow
candies:
Total number of yellow Skittles :X= 204
TotalnumberofSkittles:n=1017
P=204/117=.2006
CriticalValuefor99%Confidence=2.575

99% Confidence Interval Estimate: (-.168, .233)

Confidence Intervals estimated from a population proportion are used to determine, with
the specified degree of confidence, the proportion of a characteristic found within a
population. In relation to the skittles, we are 99% confident that the proportion of yellow
skittles in any bag of skittles falls between -1.68 and 2.33.
95% Confidence Interval estimate for the population mean number of skittles per bag
1-0.95=.05. This is two tailed so we divide by 2, so .05/2=0.25
n=17
Degrees of Freedom=16
(58.3, 61.28)
I am 95% confident that the population mean number of skittles per bag is between 58.3
and 61.28.
Confidence Interval estimates of the population mean use sample date to extrapolate an
interval with the specified degree of confidence that the mean characteristic of a
population should fall within. In this case, we are 95% confident that the mean number of
skittles in any bag is between 58.3 and 61.28.
Hypothesis Testing :
The result with a .05 claims that 20% of the skittles are red.
Use a 0.05 significance level to test the claim that the mean number of candies in a bag of
skittles is 1.9. Z=-.659.
-Do not reject the null hypothesis.
The result of a 0.01 significance claims that the mean skittles per bag is 55.

Reflection:
This skittles project allowed us to be able to put into a real life situation the things we
have been learning this Semester. I have been overwhelmed from the beginning with this
project, as there have been some things that I have had a hard time understanding, but
little it is starting to sink in. It was fun to be able to take data and apply it in a real life
situation.