MAT 300

m&ms® Project

Part 1 (10 pts)

Throughout this course we will be using m&ms® data to
help explain some of the concepts being taught as well as give you a feel for
how these methods can be used.We will
be exploring plain m&ms® and I have chosen to use the 1.69 oz size bags for
convenience and affordability.From a
larger perspective, the purpose of our report is to examine the packaging
process for plain 1.69 ounce bags of m&ms®.

In order to get started, everyone needs to visit three (3) different
stores and purchase a plain m&ms®
1.69 oz bag of candy.It is not
necessary to keep track of which bag came from which store.Why do we need to do this?We are taking a sample of the population of
all 1.69 oz bags of plain m&ms® that are produced.In order for our results to be meaningful, we
need a random sample.Random samples are
found by sampling at complete and total random.
By visiting three different stores and then randomly selecting a bag
from the display, we are assuring that we are obtaining a true random
sample.Other sampling methods will also
produce a random sample.The concepts of
population, sample, and sampling methods will be explained further in Chapter
1.

Download the mnminput.xls file found in the Student Center
under Course Documents.Once you have
your three bags, you will need to open each one individually and record
the number of candies of each color within the bag (blue, orange, green, yellow,
red, and brown) into the file.Once you
have done this for each bag, save the file and submit your file through the
M&M® project link in the weekly course content.

Here is the best part of the project.When you are done counting the colors and
recording your data, feel free to enjoy the candy!

Please note that everyone’s data will be combined into ONE
class data set.This data set will be
used for all the remaining parts of the project.There will be an announcement when the class
data set has been uploaded under Course Documents in the Student Center.Because we are only sampling 1.69 oz bags,
all our conclusions will be based upon plain 1.69 oz bags of m&ms®.We will be focusing on the overall percentage
of each color and the total number of candies per bag.

At the end of the project, you will be writing a
summary of all parts of the project.It
will be written as a formal report to a supervisor or manager.More information will be