Statistics Reflection

There were many math skills that I applied in this project that will impact other classes I
will take in my college career. I learned how to create and tastefully display statistical
information, how outliers can affect the over-all picture, and the importance of relying on
mathematical computations rather than on what appear to be logical assumptions. These
principles can be applied to a variety of educational purposes.
First of all, I learned how to use Excel to place a graph into a Word document. Now I can
use statistical graphs, charts, box plots, etc., to give variety and credibility to future reports I will
write. Since writing effectively is required in practically every college course, the possibilities
for implementing this vital skill are endless. I spent a long time trying to figure out how to do
this simple task, and was relieved to learn that my husband had recently attended a conference on
how to use Excel. Once I learned how to do it, I was amazed at how simple it was, and I am
looking forward to opportunities to implement the practice.
Secondly, I learned how to recognize outliers, and that they can be set aside to give a
clearer overall picture of the given data. While this will be important to understand when
employing statistical charts in future presentations and reports, this principle can also be related
to a plethora of broader concepts. For instance, when working on a group project in my
communications class, we had one student who failed to actively contribute. But he was an
outlier; the rest of our group consisted of dedicated, loyal, motivated individuals. When I wrote
about our teams experiences, I reported that our team had been united and dependable.
Including the actions of one student whose behavior was far from the parameters of the rest of

the group would have skewed the overall description of our team. So, as you can see, the
possibilities for application of the concept of outliers are endless.
Lastly, I learned the importance of relying on mathematical computations rather than on
what appear to be logical assumptions. This is especially true when making an assumption
about a populations data based on a small sample size. My own bag of Skittles had nearly twice
as many yellow candies as any other one color, so I assumed that most bags of Skittles had more
yellow candies than any other color. Yet, when I looked at the data that had been gathered from
our classs total of 38 bags, I found that yellow candies had been outnumbered by every other
color except orange! If I didnt understand the importance of sample size, I might have
continued on writing reports that had skewed information. Such a blunder can lead to
misrepresentation and diminish the credibility of my papers. It is important to understand the
relevance of sample size and to avoid making assumptions based on appearances rather than on
actual data calculations.
It may not matter whether Skittles produces more yellow candies - or more orange ones but what does matter is that I have the ability to use the principles this project taught me to
improve the quality of my reports and presentations in other classes. I imagine that I will use
them often.