EuniceKim|APStatistics|3AKiker|May16,2017

OrganicvsNormalStrawberries
DoOrganicFoodsReallyTasteBetter?

Abstract

The growing popularity of organic grocery stores and foods all around the country raises an important
question: are organic foods really worth it? According to a study conducted by Charles Benbrook of
Washington State University, organic foods were found to be tastier and healthier, with miraculous
quality. This report analyzes whether the LASA senior community supports this claim that organic foods
taste better than the conventional foods. The results of this experiment provided evidence that the there
was a significant mean difference in the ratings of organic foods and non-organic foods.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction ...... 3

2 Hypothesis ............ 3

3 Body Paragraphs ........... 4

4 Conclusion ........ 9

5 Works Cited ........ 11

6 Appendix A ............ 12

7 Appendix B ......... 12

8 Appendix C ............. 16

9 Appendix D ......... 20

10 Appendix E ............ 30

11 Appendix F ......... 32

12 Appendix G ........ 35

Introduction

Nowadays, people are obsessed with being healthy. They believe that the fresh, organic

quality and artificial-free additive foods are worth their expensive price. With their health and

fitness in mind, they easily prioritize the natural growth process of their meals over the taste and

flavor. But for me, food is meant to be enjoyed, chosen and bought for its exquisite taste. What is

the point of eating things and paying good money for them when you wont enjoy them to the

fullest extent? With the multiplication of organic food markets all around cities, especially

Austin, such as Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Central Market, Costco and Farmers Markets, more

and more people are beginning to be drawn to healthier lifestyles. It is known that around eight

in ten households currently purchase at least some organic products. Keeping this in mind, in a

study comparing more than 100 product pairings of organic and regular goods, organic products

were 47% more expensive. In zucchinis, organic ones were 303% more expensive than their

non-organic counterparts. Through this particular study and countless other juxtapositions, there

is ample evidence that organic goods are likely to be costly and more valuable. However, has the

question of whether or not these investments in peoples health jeopardize their happiness been

answered? Is there really a significant difference on the taste between organic foods and

processed foods?

Hypothesis

The population of the sample is the LASA senior class. The sample in this experiment

was divided into two groups: the first ten being students who tasted organic strawberries first,

and the last ten being students who tasted the normal strawberries first. Sample members were

randomly selected by R studio and randomly assigned to one of these two groups.

A two sample mean hypothesis test was performed in order to compare the mean ratings

of the two different strawberries. The organic strawberries were bought from Whole Foods and

the non-organic ones were bought from HEB. The null hypothesis claims that the true mean

difference of ratings of organic foods and the ratings of normal foods given by the students is

equal to zero, while the alternative hypothesis states that it is not equal to zero. This test would

be comparing the two dependent samples, as the two strawberries were given to the same people.

It is expected to show a significance in the mean difference in ratings of organic foods and

normal foods. That is, it is expected that the test will reject the null hypothesis, to find evidence

that the true mean difference of ratings of organic foods and the ratings of normal foods given by

the students is not equal to zero.

Body Paragraphs

The population is the LASA senior community. There are 247 seniors at this school in

total, and in order to meet the 10% rule, the sample size for this experiment came to be 20

students. Living in Austin, with much access to social media, teens today are easily persuaded by

the many voices of the internet. Also known as the bandwagon effect, many believe that

millennials are too easily guided by their peers, saying that these kids believe in particular things

because the majority of other people do, regardless of their own opinions. This goes hand in hand

with whether or not people truly believe that organic foods taste better or if they are just echoing

the opinions of others. Especially with the booming of social media, students are exposed to the

influences of so many people. Do LASA seniors, an important group that represents the teens of

Austin, truly see a difference between the two strawberries as they say?

The sampling distribution of 20 students was determined using the sample() code in R.

Then, using the random digit table, the two groups were able to be randomly allocated. The first

group was to taste the organic strawberries first, while the second group was to taste the

non-organic ones first. This would make sure that the groups were randomly allocated in order to

reduce any bias that could come out of the order in which the foods were tasted. In addition, they

were all blindfolded, or course, so that they wouldnt be able to tell which food was which based

on its appearance and shape. They were also blinded, so that the samples wouldnt intentionally

rate the organic food better or vise versa. Each person rated the tastefulness of the first food on a

scale of 1 to 5, 1 being terrible, or odd to the taste, 2 being mediocre , 3 being average tasting, 4

being tasty, and 5 being the best theyve ever had. Then, after rinsing their mouths with water,

they repeated the process, with the second type of strawberries. Finally, after collecting the data,

a comparison of the difference in ratings were made.

The sample was a good representation of the LASA population because the sample ()

code in R made sure that random sampling was occurring. Also, the random allocation of the

students into two groups made sure that the order in which the foods were tasted wasnt a

confounding variable. In addition, because 247 is greater than 20(10), the sample size passes the

10% rule, assuming that there are more than 200 students in the LASA class. Because of this, it

can be assumed that the sampling distribution can be approximated by a normal distribution.

Thus, this sample was a good representation of the LASA population.

Random sampling was accomplished by R studio, the code randomly selecting 20

students out of 247 seniors. Random allocation, however, was done a little differently. Using the

random digit table, the first ten students were chosen to taste the organic strawberry first, while

the remaining ten were to taste the non-organic strawberry first. A two digit number between 01

and 20 were used, excluding 21 to 99 and 00. Duplicates were excluded and I stopped after

selecting ten unique students (Appendix B).

Before starting with the conditions, the parameter needed to be defined: d= true mean

difference of ratings of organic strawberries and non-organic strawberries given by the seniors.

Ho: d =
0

HA: d =/ 0

Furthermore, these are the conditions that need to be satisfied before continuing on with

the calculations. First of all, SRS is given, with the random allocation and random sampling of

the 20 students. Second, Nd 10(20) assuming that there are more than 200 seniors at LASA

High School currently. Third, is unknown, so t had to be used instead of z. Fourth, the samples

are paired, or dependent, as the two means were given by the same samples. And lastly, because

the normal quantile plots departs from linearity, the data may not be normally distributed.

Results may be subject to question, however, I shall proceed with the calculations.

The mean rating of the organic strawberries was 4.15 out of 5.0, while the standard

deviation was 0.745. The mean rating of the normal strawberries was 2.85 out of 5.0, while the

standard deviation was 0.745. The mean difference of the two strawberries was 1.3, and the

standard deviation of the difference was 1.031.9 The t.test function in R calculated the t value to

be 5.7109 and the df = 21. In addition, the p value came out to be p(t>5.7109)*2=1.143e-05.

Since the p value is < , which is 0.05, we will reject the claim that the true mean difference of

ratings of organic foods and the ratings of normal foods given by the students is equal to zero.

Thus, there is evidence to support the claim that there is a significant mean difference in the

ratings of organic strawberries and the ratings of non-organic strawberries of LASA seniors. A

significance level of 0.05 was necessary because it was the most convenient to use.

Exploration of Data was a big part of this project. First of all, it wasnt a surprise that the

normal quantile plot wasnt linear. Since my data was based on ratings from 1 to 5, there was

bound to be some overlaps on the answers, and on the differences between the two ratings. There

wasnt much variability in the numbers to show a linear pattern in the plot. Furthermore, as the

test compared the true mean difference of the two different ratings, it was important to realize

that the two samples were dependent, or paired. This is because the data were collected from the

same sample of people.

Sampling and Experimentation was definitely mastered in this analysis. Random

sampling and random allocation of the samples were conducted accurately using R studio and the

random digit table. The randomness of the two groups was important because it got rid of

confounding variables such as gender and order that may have affected the conclusion of this

experiment. Because of this, the sampling distribution was definitely representative of the

population. Not only that, it was imperative that the subjects were blinded. If they had known

which type of food they were eating, their preconceived notions of each food may have impacted

their ratings, and thus the truthfulness of this test. This type of bias would have been very

harmful in this study. Double blinding wasnt necessary, however. It didnt matter whether the

experimenter knew what the subjects were eating first, because the results were based solely on

the ratings of the students.

Anticipating the Patterns was also very necessary to carry out this experiment and to form

a conclusion. Before performing the two sample hypothesis mean, it was anticipated that more

people would believe that organic foods taste better than conventional foods, and that there

would be a significant mean difference in the two ratings. It was important to consider such

hypothesis, as the whole point of two sample t tests is to test a hypothesis and either reject or fail

to reject the null hypothesis. After all, the test that was perfectly performed was crucial in finding

out that there was a significance in the difference in ratings.

And lastly, Statistical Inferences were made in order to highlight my conclusion of this

project. A two sample dependent t test was run, with the parameter being d= true mean

difference of ratings of organic strawberries and non-organic strawberries given by the seniors

and the null and alternative hypothesis of Ho: d =

0, HA: d =/ 0. At the significance level of

0.5, the p value of 1.143e-05 was less than alpha, which meant that the null hypothesis was

rejected, proving significance.

Conclusion

Does the fact that a food is organic affect the taste so much so that there is a noticeable

difference? LASA seniors surely believe so. In performing the two sample t test, it was revealed

that there is evidence that there is a difference in the true mean rating of organic strawberries and

normal strawberries. Mr. Benbrooke of Washington State University was right: organic foods

were found to be tastier - at least to the LASA senior class.

One way this experiment could be improved is if the rating system was better. The ratings

were difficult to put into context, as the subjects could only rate the strawberries in relation to the

other one. In other words, what they tasted first determined how they rated the other two, based

on if they were better or worse than the first. They werent allowed to change their answers after

the fact. Maybe it would have been better if they had the option to go back and change the

ratings. In addition, because of the five scaled ratings, the normal quantile plot didnt show

linearity. Other than these two, this experiment was all in all successful. There were no other

significant problems in sampling, bias, confounding variables, data collection, or calculations.

This was a well designed experiment overall.

Thus, the mystery is solved. Organic foods really are worth it: the seemingly high cost

offers not only health benefits, but also quality taste as well. It doesnt seem like the high

demand for organic markets isnt going to wane just yet.

10


Works Cited

Albright, Mary Beth. "Organic Foods Are Tastier and Healthier, Study Finds." The Plate.

National Geographic, 11 July 2014. Web. 16 May 2017.

<http://theplate.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/14/organic-foods-are-tastier-and-health

ier-study-finds/>.

Rogerson, Lydia Renee, Keaton Jay Hansen Goodwin, Ethan Kekoa MacAuley, Michael Xu,

Kendall Rae Brice, Tatum Brown, Matthew Erwin Prinz, Andrew Hyunjoong Kim,

Devon L. Nelms, Dylan Boswell Baldridge, Aidan Elena Evans-Strong, Benjamin

Harrison Kuczaj, Roxanne Delphi Bonafont, Eliza Jane Fisher, Antonio Lopez Garcia,

Aidan Janette Henderson, Saskia Pilar Holman, Bridget Ashe Kelly, Abe Huerta Olmos,

and Kaitlin Elizabeth Polgar. "Stats Project." In-person interview. 16 May 2017.

11


Appendix A: Website Link

http://eunicestats.weebly.com/

Appendix B: Revised Inquiry Pitch

OrganicFoods:DoTheyMake
aDifferenceontheTaste?

RevisedInquiryPitch

Eunice Kim
AP Statistics 3A
12 April 2017

12


Introduction

Nowadays, people are obsessed with being healthy. They believe that the fresh, organic

quality and artificial-free additive foods are worth their expensive price. With their health and

fitness in mind, they easily prioritize the natural growth process of their meals over the taste and

flavor. But for me, food is meant to be enjoyed, chosen and bought for its exquisite taste. What is

the point of eating things and paying good money for them when you wont enjoy them to the

fullest extent? With the multiplication of organic food markets all around cities, especially

Austin, such as Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Central Market, Costco and Farmers Markets, more

and more people are beginning to be drawn to healthier lifestyles. It is known that around eight

in ten households currently purchase at least some organic products. Keeping this in mind, in a

study comparing more than 100 product pairings of organic and regular goods, organic products

were 47% more expensive. In zucchinis, organic ones were 303% more expensive than their

non-organic counterparts. Through this and countless other juxtapositions, there has been

evidence that organic goods are likely to be more costly and valuable. However, has the question

of whether or not these investments to peoples health jeopardize their happiness been answered?

Do organic foods taste good as much as they are healthy? Do they make a difference on the

taste?

Body Paragraphs

In order to answer my question, I would have to run an experiment, specifically, using a

matched pairs design. I would have each experimental unit try both treatments of tasting organic

foods and its non-organic counterpart. In short, I would have my samples perform a taste test.

They will all be blindfolded, or course, so that the samples couldnt tell which food was which.

13


Half of my sample will try the organic food first, while the other half will try the non-organic

food first. This will be randomly allocated, of course, in order to reduce any bias that could come

out of this. Each person will rate the tastefulness of the food on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being terrible,

or odd to the taste, 2 being mediocre a, 3 being average tasting, 4 being tasty, and 5 being the

best theyve ever had. After I collect the data from each person, I will then compare the

difference between their organic and non-organic foods for each person.

In my experiment, I will Explore My Data. I will be using multiple tests to compare my

data to one another, such as hypothesis tests. To support this, I will draw graphs in order to prove

that the conditions were satisfied and to back up the tests I will be using.

Obviously, because my project is an experiment, I will easily demonstrate mastery of

Sampling and Experimentation. I will be using a matched pairs design to collect my data. My

plan for collecting data is stated above.

Bias is a big problem in experiments. However, with my extensive knowledge in

statistical experiments that I have learned from this course, I will be able to Anticipate the

Patterns in my experiment. I will randomly allocate the order of the treatments to each subject. I

will also randomly select my sample by using simple random sampling of my population.

And lastly, I will make important Statistical Inferences in order to highlight my

conclusion of this project. I will be making my own hypothesis and predictions of my question,

and using my data to make valid conclusions.

I will obtain a random sample/random assignment in my experiment by using R studio.

My population will be the entirety of the LASA senior community. Since there are 247 seniors at

LASA, my sample size will be 20, because of the 10% rule. Using the sample() code, I will

14


randomly select my sample pool. Or an alternate option of random sampling would be to use a

random digit table. It would be easier to use R, however.

I will use the two sample hypothesis mean dependent test. The null hypothesis would be

that the true mean difference of ratings of organic foods and the ratings of normal foods given by

the students is equal to zero, and the alternate hypothesis would be that it is not equal to zero.

This would answer my question of whether or not people actually do believe that organic foods

taste better or not.

Conclusion

My experiment will provide evidence or no evidence that people actually do believe that

organic foods benefit people in terms of both health and appetite, with their expensive price. I

will randomly allocate my subjects in a matched paired design, with the individuals doing both

treatments. Then, I will compare the ratings of the two. After my data is collected, I will run a

two sample hypothesis mean.. With that, I will be able to conclude if what they say is true:

organic foods do taste better, and thus is worth the costly price.

The only issue I had with this experiment was if I should have my subjects rate the

tastefulness from 1-5 or have them rank the foods from 1st place to 2nd place, 1st place being it

tasted better than the other. Would it make a difference, because in my chi squared test, my

variables depend just on the number of people who thought organic foods were better.

Sources

"Cost of Organic Food - Consumer Reports." Cost of Organic Food - Consumer Reports.

Consumer Reports, 19 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/03/cost-of-organic-food/index.htm>.

15


"FAQ." Organic Agriculture: Why Is Organic Food More Expensive than Conventional Food?

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2017. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.fao.org/organicag/oa-faq/oa-faq5/en/>.

Appendix C: Original Inquiry Pitch

OrganicFoods:DoTheyMake
aDifferenceontheTaste?

InquiryPitch

Eunice Kim
AP Statistics 3A
12 April 2017

16


Introduction

Nowadays, people are obsessed with being healthy. They believe that the fresh, organic

quality and artificial-free additive foods are worth their expensive price. With their health and

fitness in mind, they easily prioritize the natural growth process of their meals over the taste and

flavor. But for me, food is meant to be enjoyed, chosen and bought for its exquisite taste. What is

the point of eating things and paying good money for them when you wont enjoy them to the

fullest extent? With the multiplication of organic food markets all around cities, especially

Austin, such as Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Central Market, Costco and Farmers Markets, more

and more people are beginning to be drawn to healthier lifestyles. It is known that around eight

in ten households currently purchase at least some organic products. Keeping this in mind, in a

study comparing more than 100 product pairings of organic and regular goods, organic products

were 47% more expensive. In zucchinis, organic ones were 303% more expensive than their

non-organic counterparts. Through this and countless other juxtapositions, there has been

evidence that organic goods are likely to be more costly and valuable. However, has the question

of whether or not these investments to peoples health jeopardize their happiness been answered?

Do organic foods taste good as much as they are healthy? Is there really a difference? Is the price

really worth it?

Body Paragraphs

In order to answer my question, I would have to run an experiment, specifically, using a

matched pairs design. I would have each experimental unit try both treatments of tasting organic

foods and its non-organic counterpart. In short, I would have my samples perform a taste test.

They will all be blindfolded, or course. Half of my sample will try the organic food first, while

17


the other half will try the non-organic food first. This will be randomly allocated, of course, in

order to reduce any bias that could come out of this. Each person will rate the tastefulness of the

food on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being bad and 5 being good. After I collect the data from each person,

I will then compare the difference between their organic and non-organic foods for each person.

In my experiment, I will Explore My Data. I will be using multiple tests to compare my

data to one another, such as hypothesis tests.

Obviously, because my project is an experiment, I will easily demonstrate mastery of

Sampling and Experimentation. I will be using a matched pairs design to collect my data. My

plan for collecting data is stated above.

Bias is a big problem in experiments. However, with my extensive knowledge in

statistical experiments that I have learned from this course, I will be able to Anticipate the

Patterns in my experiment. I will randomly allocate the order of the treatments to each subject. I

will also randomly select my sample by using simple random sampling of my population.

And lastly, I will make important Statistical Inferences in order to highlight my

conclusion of this project. I will be making my own hypothesis and predictions of my question,

and using my data to make valid conclusions.

I will obtain a random sample/random assignment in my experiment by using R studio.

My population will be the entirety of the LASA community, from the freshmen to the seniors.

Using the sample() code, I will randomly select my sample pool. Or an alternate option of

random sampling would be to use a random digit table. It would be easier to use R, however.

I will probably use the chi squared goodness of fit test. The null hypothesis would be that

the distribution of observed number of people who rated organic foods better would be the same

18


as the distribution of expected number of people who rated organic foods better, and the alternate

hypothesis would be the opposite. This would answer my question of whether or not people

actually do believe that organic foods taste better or not.

Conclusion

My experiment will prove once and for all if people actually do believe that organic

foods benefit people in terms of both health and appetite, with their expensive price. I will

randomly allocate my subjects in a matched paired design, with the individuals doing both

treatments. Then, I will compare the ratings of the two. After my data is collected, I will run a

Chi-Squared goodness of fit test. I will compare the observed number of people who believes

that organic foods taste better and the expected number as well. With that, I will be able to

conclude if what they say is true: organic foods do taste better, and thus is worth the costly price.

The only issue I had with this experiment was if I should have my subjects rate the

tastefulness from 1-5 or have them rank the foods from 1st place to 2nd place, 1st place being it

tasted better than the other. Would it make a difference, because in my chi squared test, my

variables depend just on the number of people who thought organic foods were better.

Sources

"Cost of Organic Food - Consumer Reports." Cost of Organic Food - Consumer Reports.

Consumer Reports, 19 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/03/cost-of-organic-food/index.htm>.

"FAQ." Organic Agriculture: Why Is Organic Food More Expensive than Conventional Food?

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2017. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.fao.org/organicag/oa-faq/oa-faq5/en/>.

19


Appendix D: Report Rough Draft

OrganicvsNormalStrawberries
DoOrganicFoodsReallyTasteBetter?

Abstract

The growing popularity of organic grocery stores and foods all around the country raises an important
question: are organic foods really worth it? According to a study conducted by Charles Benbrook of
Washington State University, organic foods were found to be tastier and healthier, with miraculous
quality. This report analyzes whether the LASA senior community supports this claim that organic foods
taste better than the conventional foods. The results of this experiment provided evidence that the there
was a significant mean difference in the ratings of organic foods and non-organic foods.

20


Table of Contents

1 Introduction .... 3

2 Hypothesis .......... 3

3 Body Paragraphs ......... 4

4 Conclusion ...... 9

5 Works Cited ....... 10

6 Appendix A ............ 11

7 Appendix B ........ 12

8 Appendix C ......... 13

9 Appendix D ........ 14

21


Introduction

Nowadays, people are obsessed with being healthy. They believe that the fresh, organic

quality and artificial-free additive foods are worth their expensive price. With their health and

fitness in mind, they easily prioritize the natural growth process of their meals over the taste and

flavor. But for me, food is meant to be enjoyed, chosen and bought for its exquisite taste. What is

the point of eating things and paying good money for them when you wont enjoy them to the

fullest extent? With the multiplication of organic food markets all around cities, especially

Austin, such as Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Central Market, Costco and Farmers Markets, more

and more people are beginning to be drawn to healthier lifestyles. It is known that around eight

in ten households currently purchase at least some organic products. Keeping this in mind, in a

study comparing more than 100 product pairings of organic and regular goods, organic products

were 47% more expensive. In zucchinis, organic ones were 303% more expensive than their

non-organic counterparts. Through this particular study and countless other juxtapositions, there

is ample evidence that organic goods are likely to be costly and more valuable. However, has the

question of whether or not these investments in peoples health jeopardize their happiness been

answered? Is there really a significant difference on the taste between organic foods and

processed foods?

Hypothesis

The population of the sample is the LASA senior class. The sample in this experiment

was divided into two groups: the first ten being students who tasted organic strawberries first,

22


and the last ten being students who tasted the normal strawberries first. Sample members were

randomly selected by R studio and randomly assigned to one of these two groups.

A two sample mean hypothesis test was performed in order to compare the mean ratings

of the two different strawberries. The null hypothesis claims that the true mean difference of

ratings of organic foods and the ratings of normal foods given by the students is equal to zero,

while the alternative hypothesis states that it is not equal to zero. This test would be comparing

the two dependent samples, as the two strawberries were given to the same people. It is expected

to show a significance in the mean difference in ratings of organic foods and normal foods. That

is, it is expected that the test will reject the null hypothesis, to find evidence that the true mean

difference of ratings of organic foods and the ratings of normal foods given by the students is not

equal to zero.

Body Paragraphs

The population is the LASA senior community. There are 247 seniors at this school in

total, and in order to meet the 10% rule, the sample size for this experiment came to be 20

students. Living in Austin, with much access to social media, teens today are easily persuaded by

the many voices of the internet. Also known as the bandwagon effect, many believe that

millennials are too easily guided by their peers, saying that these kids believe in particular things

because the majority of other people do, regardless of their own opinions. This goes hand in hand

with whether or not people truly believe that organic foods taste better or if they are just echoing

the opinions of others. Especially with the booming of social media, students are exposed to the

influences of so many people. Do LASA seniors, an important group that represents the teens of

Austin, truly see a difference between the two strawberries as they say?

23


The sampling distribution of 20 students was determined using the sample() code in R.

Then, using the random digit table, the two groups were able to be randomly allocated. The first

group was to taste the organic strawberries first, while the second group was to taste the

non-organic ones first. This would make sure that the groups were randomly allocated in order to

reduce any bias that could come out of the order in which the foods were tasted. In addition, they

were all blindfolded, or course, so that they wouldnt be able to tell which food was which based

on its appearance and shape. They were also blinded, so that the samples wouldnt intentionally

rate the organic food better or vise versa. Each person rated the tastefulness of the first food on a

scale of 1 to 5, 1 being terrible, or odd to the taste, 2 being mediocre , 3 being average tasting, 4

being tasty, and 5 being the best theyve ever had. Then, after rinsing their mouths with water,

they repeated the process, with the second type of strawberries. Finally, after collecting the data,

a comparison of the difference in ratings were made.

The sample was a good representation of the LASA population because the sample ()

code in R made sure that random sampling was occurring. Also, the random allocation of the

students into two groups made sure that the order in which the foods were tasted wasnt a

confounding variable. In addition, because 247 is greater than 20(10), the sample size passes the

10% rule, assuming that there are more than 200 students in the LASA class. Because of this, it

can be assumed that the sampling distribution can be approximated by a normal distribution.

Thus, this sample was a good representation of the LASA population.

Random sampling was accomplished by R studio, the code randomly selecting 20

students out of 247 seniors. Random allocation, however, was done a little differently. Using the

random digit table, the first ten students were chosen to taste the organic strawberry first, while

24


the remaining ten were to taste the non-organic strawberry first. A two digit number between 01

and 20 were used, excluding 21 to 99 and 00. Duplicates were excluded and I stopped after

selecting ten unique students (Appendix G).

Before starting with the conditions, the parameter needed to be defined: d= true mean

difference of ratings of organic strawberries and non-organic strawberries given by the seniors.

Ho: d =
0

HA: d =/ 0

Furthermore, these are the conditions that need to be satisfied before continuing on with

the calculations. First of all, SRS is given, with the random allocation and random sampling of

the 20 students. Second, Nd 10(20) assuming that there are more than 200 seniors at LASA

High School currently. Third, is unknown, so t had to be used instead of z. Fourth, the samples

are paired, or dependent, as the two means were given by the same samples. And lastly, because

the normal quantile plots departs from linearity, the data may not be normally distributed.

Results may be subject to question, however, I shall proceed with the calculations.

25


The t.test function in R calculated the t value to be 5.7109 and the df = 21. In addition,

the p value came out to be p(t>5.7109)*2=1.143e-05. Since the p value is < , which is 0.05, we

will reject the claim that the true mean difference of ratings of organic foods and the ratings of

normal foods given by the students is equal to zero. Thus, there is evidence to support the claim

that there is a significant mean difference in the ratings of organic strawberries and the ratings of

non-organic strawberries of LASA seniors. A significance level of 0.05 was necessary because it

was the most convenient to use.

Exploration of Data was a big part of this project. First of all, it wasnt a surprise that the

normal quantile plot wasnt linear. Since my data was based on ratings from 1 to 5, there was

bound to be some overlaps on the answers, and on the differences between the two ratings. There

wasnt much variability in the numbers to show a linear pattern in the plot. Furthermore, as the

test compared the true mean difference of the two different ratings, it was important to realize

26


that the two samples were dependent, or paired. This is because the data were collected from the

same sample of people.

Sampling and Experimentation was definitely mastered in this analysis. Random

sampling and random allocation of the samples were conducted accurately using R studio and the

random digit table. The randomness of the two groups was important because it got rid of

confounding variables such as gender and order that may have affected the conclusion of this

experiment. Because of this, the sampling distribution was definitely representative of the

population. Not only that, it was imperative that the subjects were blinded. If they had known

which type of food they were eating, their preconceived notions of each food may have impacted

their ratings, and thus the truthfulness of this test. This type of bias would have been very

harmful in this study. Double blinding wasnt necessary, however. It didnt matter whether the

experimenter knew what the subjects were eating first, because the results were based solely on

the ratings of the students.

Anticipating the Patterns was also very necessary to carry out this experiment and to form

a conclusion. Before performing the two sample hypothesis mean, it was anticipated that more

people would believe that organic foods taste better than conventional foods, and that there

would be a significant mean difference in the two ratings. It was important to consider such

hypothesis, as the whole point of two sample t tests is to test a hypothesis and either reject or fail

to reject the null hypothesis. After all, the test that was perfectly performed was crucial in finding

out that there was a significance in the difference in ratings.

And lastly, Statistical Inferences were made in order to highlight my conclusion of this

project. A two sample dependent t test was run, with the parameter being d= true mean

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difference of ratings of organic strawberries and non-organic strawberries given by the seniors

and the null and alternative hypothesis of Ho: d =

0, HA: d =/ 0. At the significance level of

0.5, the p value of 1.143e-05 was less than alpha, which meant that the null hypothesis was

rejected, proving significance.

Conclusion

Does the fact that a food is organic affect the taste so much so that there is a noticeable

difference? LASA seniors surely believe so. In performing the two sample t test, it was revealed

that there is evidence that there is a difference in the true mean rating of organic strawberries and

normal strawberries. Mr. Benbrooke of Washington State University was right: organic foods

were found to be tastier - at least to the LASA senior class.

One way this experiment could be improved is if the rating system was better. The ratings

were difficult to put into context, as the subjects could only rate the strawberries in relation to the

other one. In other words, what they tasted first determined how they rated the other two, based

on if they were better or worse than the first. They werent allowed to change their answers after

the fact. Maybe it would have been better if they had the option to go back and change the

ratings. In addition, because of the five scaled ratings, the normal quantile plot didnt show

linearity. Other than these two, this experiment was all in all successful. There were no other

significant problems in sampling, bias, confounding variables, data collection, or calculations.

This was a well designed experiment overall.

Thus, the mystery is solved. Organic foods really are worth it: the seemingly high cost

offers not only health benefits, but also quality taste as well. It doesnt seem like the high

demand for organic markets isnt going to wane just yet.

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Works Cited

Albright, Mary Beth. "Organic Foods Are Tastier and Healthier, Study Finds." The Plate.

National Geographic, 11 July 2014. Web. 16 May 2017.

<http://theplate.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/14/organic-foods-are-tastier-and-health

ier-study-finds/>.

Rogerson, Lydia Renee, Keaton Jay Hansen Goodwin, Ethan Kekoa MacAuley, Michael Xu,

Kendall Rae Brice, Tatum Brown, Matthew Erwin Prinz, Andrew Hyunjoong Kim,

Devon L. Nelms, Dylan Boswell Baldridge, Aidan Elena Evans-Strong, Benjamin

Harrison Kuczaj, Roxanne Delphi Bonafont, Eliza Jane Fisher, Antonio Lopez Garcia,

Aidan Janette Henderson, Saskia Pilar Holman, Bridget Ashe Kelly, Abe Huerta Olmos,

and Kaitlin Elizabeth Polgar. "Stats Project." In-person interview. 16 May 2017.

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Appendix E: Peer Review Feedback Form

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31


Appendix F

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#Random sampling of 20 students, out of the LASA senior population

> sample(LASA.roster$V1,20)

[1] Rogerson, Lydia Renee Goodwin, Keaton Jay Hansen

[3] MacAuley, Ethan Kekoaponoali'i Xu, Michael

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[5] Brice, Kendall Rae Brown, Tatum

[7] Prinz, Matthew Erwin Kim, Andrew Hyunjoong

[9] Nelms, Devon L Baldridge, Dylan Boswell

[11] Evans-Strong, Aidan Elena Kuczaj, Benjamin Harrison

[13] Bonafont, Roxanne Delphi Fisher, Eliza Jane

[15] Antonio Lopez Garcia Henderson, Aidan Janette

[17] Holman, Saskia Pilar Kelly, Bridget Ashe

[19] Huerta Olmos, Abraham Polgar, Kaitlin Elizabeth

247 Levels: Ahmed, Alisha Arnaz ... Zhou, Warren Liu

#Drawing the normal quantile plot of the true mean differences

> qqnorm(Capstone.Project.Data.$Differences, main="Normal Quantile Plot of Differences",

datax=TRUE)

#Two sample dependent hypothesis mean test

> t.test(c(Capstone.Project.Data.$Organic),c(Capstone.Project.Data.$Normal), paired=TRUE)

Paired t-test

data: c(Capstone.Project.Data.$Organic) and c(Capstone.Project.Data.$Normal)

t = 5.7109, df = 21, p-value = 1.143e-05

alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0

95 percent confidence interval:

0.7890311 1.6927871

sample estimates:

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mean of the differences

1.240909

Appendix G

81|48|6 6|94|87| 60|51|3 0|92|97| 00|41|2 7|12|38| 27|64|9 3|99|50

59|63|6 8|88|04| 04|63|4 7|11|97| 19|35|2 7|30|89| 84|89|8 4|57|85

62|56|8 7|02|06| 40|32|5 0|36|99| 71|08|0 2|25|53| 11|48|6 1|17|76

45|14|9 3|29|92| 75|73|0 6|62|80| 03|81|9 5|62|02| 02|93|8 7|09|15

Red = Taste organic strawberry first

01 Aidan Elena Evans-Strong

02 Kendall Rae Brice

03 Dylan Boswell Baldridge

04 Keaton jay Hansen Goodwin

05 Benjamin Harrison Kuczaj

06 Tatum Brown

07 Roxanne Delphi Bonafont

08 Matthew Erwin Prinz

09 Eliza Jane Fisher

10 Antonio Lopez Garcia

11 Ethan Kekoa MacAuley

12 Lydia Renee Rogerson

13 Aidan Janette Henderson

14 Devon L Nelms

35


15 Saskia Pilar Holman

16 Bridget Ashe Kelly

17 Andrew Hyunjoong Kim

18 Abe Huerta Olmos

19 Michael Xu

20 Kaitlin Elizabeth Polgar

36