Group Project 2 – Group Portion

We all had differing opinions in our group about the proportions of the different-colored
skittles that each bag would contain. Some of us favored one color over another due to its
popularity or flavor, and some expected a fairly even distribution.

Count Red Count Orange Count Yellow Count Green Count Purple
Expected Proportion 20% 20% 20% 20% 20%
Observed Proportion 21.3% 19.3% 19.6% 20.5% 19.2%

In this project our population is all skittles bags of the same size, and our samples were
random because we all bought our skittles bags from different stores without a premeditated
technique. This ensured no bias towards a specific store or vendor.
Though we would obviously expect a more accurate representation of how many
different-colored skittles any given skittles bag contains, our class sample gives us a good
estimate of this. This is because there isn’t much variation in our samples except for
manufacturing errors. Skittles are processed by machines, therefore lowering the risk of possible
human error in placing more of a specific color over another. From our sample, we can be safe to
assume that any other bag of skittles of the same kind will fall under our findings.
 Group Project 2 – Individual Portion

This was an interesting project. Though there is some variance in my personal results, the
class results show much less of this variance in the numbers of different colored skittles. This is
because the sample used for the class was obtained from all the students and thus shows a much
more accurate representation of the average number of different colored skittles in each bag. I
expected to see a pretty proportionate number of different colored skittles, so the results from
our class are not surprising at all.

Proportion Proportion Proportion Proportion Proportion Total

Count
Red Orange Yellow Green Purple

My Bag 13 11 14 15 10 63

Class
13 12 12 12 12 60
Counts
 Group Project 3 – Group Portion

1. Using the total number of candies in each bag in our class sample, compute the following
measures for the variable “Total candies in each bag”:
(a) mean number of candies per bag

60.1
(b) standard deviation of the number of candies per bag

3.6
(c) 5-number summary for the number of candies per bag

Min: 45
Q1: 58
Mean: 60
Q3: 62
Max: 82
2. Frequency Histogram
3. Box Plot

Total candies in each bag

 Group Project 3 – Individual Portion

The shape of the distribution that I found in our calculations and graphs is skewed right.
For the most part, the graphs reflect what I expected to see. Although, there is an outlier in our
findings where one bag had a total of 82 Skittles. This is totally out of the trend we saw in our
calculations and expectations of how many candies a bag of Skittles should have. My personal
results from my bag of Skittles mostly conform to the trend we saw and averages we found
when we pooled all of results from our class. In my bag, I found 63 candies, and the class had
104 bags in total.

In this exercise, the graphs we used made sense because we were able to see the variance
in our results. On the other hand, a pie chart would have not made sense in this exercise. This is
because our findings don’t add to up a total of any significance. We could have used a pie chart
to discern how many different-colored candies we each had in our bags, but this exercise called
for different characteristics of our samples. This exercise called for quantitative data because it
wanted to study the samples collected by different people which can then be used to make
assumptions about the population as a whole.
 Group Project 4 – Group Portion

1. Construct a 99% confidence interval estimate for population of yellow candies.

a. Sample proportion of yellow candies= 1228/6255=.1963
b. Type of interval population proportion interval
c. Verify requirement for this type of interval:1.sample is obtained from simple random
sampling 2. np(1-p) is greater than or equal to 10 so 6255(.1963) (1-.1963) =987
3. The sample size can be no more than 5% of the population.
d. Lower limit = .1834
e. Upper limit = .2093
f. Margin of error =+ or - .0126
g. Interpret the confidence interval estimate for the population proportion of yellow
candies-
We are 99% confident that the proportion of yellow candies is between 18.34% and 20.93%.
2. Construct a 90% confidence interval for the population mean number of candies per bag
a. Sample mean number of candies per bag= 6255/104
b. Type of interval- confidence interval for population mean
c. Verify requirements for this type of interval-either the sample must come from a
population that is approximately normal with no outliers or the sample size must be
large – yes, our sample is more than 30.
d. Sample mean= 60.14, s= 3.64, n= 104
e. Lower limit= 59.55
f. Upper limit =60.73

g. Margin of error   z * s / n  or  .59
2
h. Interpret the confidence interval estimate for the population mean number of candies
per bag- We are 90% confident that the mean number of candies per bag lies between
59.55 and 60.73.
 Group Project 4 – Individual Portion

Generally speaking, a confidence interval is used to describe a random sample from a

population. We can use this to infer different characteristics about a population and we can also
determine the upper and lower bounds of our calculation. We are also able to deduce what the
sampling error will be. Confidence intervals are useful because often times, we are not able to
measure all the individuals in a population, so taking a sample and using a confidence interval an
efficient way of measuring the desired parameters.
 Group Project 5 - Reflection

In the beginning of this course, I would say that like most of my peers, I didn’t think I

would learn anything that would be relevant or useful in my career. This is quite often the

mentality I have towards any kind of mathematics course I’ve taken throughout my life.

However, I’m pleasantly surprised that this idea could not have been more wrong with this

course.

Many times during this course, I found myself thinking about how I could apply the

principles I was learning to my job. I work at a financial institution and having the skills I

learned will undoubtedly be skills that I’ll use for the rest of my career, whether it be in finance

or any other type of field. Being able to apply my knowledge and understanding to my everyday

life is invaluable.

Working in the group projects was also very crucial. This is because teamwork is

essential, especially because this course was done online. Most people would think that because

this was an online class, the group projects would be nearly impossible to manage. Though this

could be true in some cases, our group found how to work together and manage our time wisely

and efficiently.

Having a strong foundational understanding of statistics will be key to taking on future

career opportunities, as well as any other courses in mathematics. I’ve always thought about

starting my own business some day and I can confidently say that without the knowledge I’ve

gained in this course, starting a business would be much more challenging.