Are Skittles Evenly

Distributed?
BY: Kristin Taylor
Introduction & Research Question
 Question- Are the flavors in a 2.17 oz. bag of original
Skittles evenly distributed?

 Population of interest- 5 bags of 2.17 ounce original

Skittles
Procedure
1. Pour one bag of Skittles
onto a paper towel
2. Sort the Skittles by color
3. Count the # of each color
and record
4. Calculate total # of
Skittles in individual bag
5. Place skittles in a
cup/bowl
6. Repeat steps 1-5 for the
remaining 4 bags
Intro & Research (cont.)
Weakness Strength
The population size could The experiment setup
have been larger The Skittles were all the same
The number of each color of size
Skittles could have been  No half pieces
miscalculated, which would
have skewed the sum in the
bag
Data Collection
Data collected by:
1. Sorting the colors in a 2.17 oz. bag of Original
Skittles
2. Counting them & recording the total of each color
3. Add up all the totals to get the total amount of
Skittles in the bag
4. Then divide the # of each color by the total # of
Skittles to get the percentage
EX. 11/58 = .189 ≈ 19%
I am confident that my sample
represents the population
because the total number of
Skittles within the five bags
were around the same total.
The total ranged from 58-61.
Therefore, I am confident that
if a larger sample size was used
then the total amount of
Skittles would be within this
range. Using the z-interval test
on a TI-83, I’m 90% confident
that the total amount of
Skittles in a 2.17 0z. bag would
range from 55-65 Skittles.
BAG ONE

Color Count %
Total # of each Color GREEN 11 19
14 PURPLE 13 22
12 YELLOW 13 22

10 RED 9 16
ORANGE 12 21
8

0
Green Purple Yellow Red Orange
BAG TWO

Color Count %
Total # of each Color GREEN 14 23
16 PURPLE 14 23
14 YELLOW 13 21
12 RED 11 18
10
ORANGE 9 15
8
6
4
2
0
Green Purple Yellow
Red Orange
BAG THREE
Color Count %
Total # of each Color
GREEN 11 19
PURPLE 16 27 18

YELLOW 10 17 16
RED 12 20 14
ORANGE 10 17 12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Green Purple Yellow Red Orange
BAG FOUR
Color Count %
Total # of each Color
GREEN 12 20
18 PURPLE 10 16
16 YELLOW 11 18
14 RED 17 28
12 ORANGE 11 18
10
8
6
4
2
0
Green Purple Yellow Red Orange
BAG FIVE

Color Count %
Total # of each Color
GREEN 18 30
20
PURPLE 14 23
18
YELLOW 4 6.7
16
14 RED 13 22
12 ORANGE 11 18.3
10
8
6
4
2
0
Green Purple Yellow Red Orange
Cumulative Average
Color Total
Color Count
80
GREEN 66
70
PURPLE 67 60
YELLOW 51 50
40
RED 62 30
ORANGE 53 20
10
The graph to the right shows the sum of each color
within the sample population
0
5-number summary: Green Purple Yellow
Min- 51 Mean: 59.8 Red Orange
Q1- 52 σ: 6.62
Shape: the graph is roughly
Med- 62
symmetric
Q3- 66.5 Outliers: there are no outliers
Max- 67 Center: 62
Spread:51- 67
Inference Procedure
Null Hypothesis- The flavors of Original Skittles in a 2.17 oz. bag
are evenly distributed.

Alternative Hypothesis- The flavors of Original Skittles in a

2.17 oz. bag are not evenly distributed.

Significance level: α =.05

Sample size: 5 bags of 2.17 oz. Skittles

Chi-square Test
Ho: The flavors of Original Skittles in a 2.17 oz. bag are evenly distributed.
Ha: The color of Original Skittles in a 2.17 oz. bag are not evenly
distributed.

Class Observed Expected

Green 66 59.8
Purple 67 59.8
Yellow 51 59.8
Red 62 59.8
Orange 53 59.8
Step 2:
The χ² GOF Test will be used
 Check Conditions:
1. The data does not come from a SRS therefore, I may not be able to
generalize about the population
2. The expected numbers are greater than 5

Step 3:
Χ² = ∑(O-E)²
E
= (66-59.8)² + (67-59.8)² + (51-59.8)² + (62-59.8)² + (53-59.8)²
59.8 59.8 59.8 59.8 59.8
= 3.66
Step 4:
Using a TI-84, the p-value was 0.45

There is strong evidence to reject the null hypothesis at the α = .05 level
because the p-value is greater than .05 (.45 ≥ .05). Therefore, the flavors
in a 2.17 oz. bag of Original Skittles are not evenly distributed, which can
be seen in the graphical displays of each individual bag. From reviewing
my graphical displays and charts I noticed that within four of the bags of
Skittles only two of the colors within the bag had equal amounts.