Statistics Project

Project:
The purpose of this project is to learn to collect our own data, organize that data in a table and graph,
calculate various statistical values using that data, and make observations about the data. To do this,
you will be counting the number of chocolate chips in each cookie purchased. The number of chocolate
chips per cookie will make up our dataset.
1.) i.) Obtain your own sample of chocolate chip cookies (make sure to note the brand) and proceed
to count the number of chocolate chips in each cookie. (Use one brand/type of cookie. Make
sure you have at least 24 cookies in your sample, but try to use the whole bag.)
ii.) Describe in detail the method you used for counting the chocolate chips in your cookies – the
chocolate chip size cutoff you used, did you break apart the cookies, how long did it take, etc. Be
specific, detailed, and thorough in your description of your method.
iii.) Note the brand of cookie you chose, the number of bags you used, and state the store (with
address) that you bought them from.
2.) Describe the data by doing the following:
A) Organize the raw data (number of chips for each cookie) in a table. You may do this in Excel
or Word. Make sure your data is organized from smallest to greatest.
B) Create a frequency distribution. You should use an appropriate class width for your sample of
data (minimum of 5 classes though and maximum of 20 classes). You may do this in Excel or
Word. Make sure to show work and /or explain why you chose your class width, how you found
the upper and lower class limits, etc. Again, be detailed in the description of your method and
steps.
C.) Create a histogram, based on your frequency distribution, to display the data. You may do
this in Excel or Word. Make sure to label your axes and show if you are using the class midpoints or boundary points as your tic marks.
D) Find the descriptive statistics: mean, median, mode, variance, standard deviation, range,
minimum value, maximum value, Q1, and Q3. You can do this in Excel, or on the
calculator. If doing this in Excel, make sure to clearly
label your data and describe which formulas were used. If doing this on the calculator, explain
the steps you used to find the answers.

3.) i.) Use the range rule of thumb to identify the limits separating values that are significantly low
or significantly high.
(Show your work.)
ii.) Based on these cutoffs, did you have any data points (chip counts) that were significantly low
or significantly high? Which ones? How do you know they are significantly low or significantly
high?
4.) Based on your graph(s) from part 2, does your data appear normal (i.e. bell-shaped)? Why
or why not?

5.) What are some key defects in this project? Come up with at least three. Describe them in
detail and how the issues could be corrected. Some topics to think about are the size of our datasets,
our sampling method used, if there is any bias, etc. The answer to this question should be at least 1 – 2
paragraphs long.

6.) Format: Submit all work and answers to each part as a typed paper (Times New Roman,
12 point, double-spaced). You should use correct grammar and complete sentences. You should
also embed your tables, graphs, etc. if possible. Thus, your entire project will likely just be one Word
document (or PDF document) which contains all parts and work. If you are using Excel, you can also
submit that file in addition to your Word document write up if you like.