Which color distribution are you comparing to?

Mars, Inc., is famous for its milk chocolate candies. Here’s what the company’s Consumer Affairs Department says about the distribution of color for M&M’S® Milk Chocolate Candies produced at its Hackettstown, New Jersey, factory:

  • Brown: 12.5%
  • Red: 12.5%
  • Yellow: 12.5%
  • Green: 12.5%
  • Orange: 25%
  • Blue: 25%

The purpose of this activity is to investigate if the distribution of color in your large bag of M&M’S Milk Chocolate Candies differs from the claimed distribution.

Enter the observed counts for your sample in the table below and press Begin Analysis.

Color Name Count
Brown
Red
Yellow
Green
Orange
Blue

The regular variety of Skittles candies is claimed to contain equal percentages (20% each) of red, orange, yellow, green, and purple candies by the manufacturer.

The purpose of this activity is to investigate if the distribution of color in your large bag of Skittles candies differs from the claimed distribution.

Enter the observed counts for your sample in the table below and press Begin Analysis.

Color Name Count
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Purple

The manufacturer of regular Froot Loops cereal claims that it contains equal percentages (approximately 16.67% each) of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple loops.

The purpose of this activity is to investigate if the distribution of color in your box of Froot Loops differs from the claimed distribution.

Enter the observed counts for your sample in the table below and press Begin Analysis.

Color Name Count
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Purple

For a more detailed discussion, see the Stats Medic lesson plans for Day 1 and Day 2 of this activity.

To see if the observed chi-square statistic is unusual, let’s perform a simulation!

Pressing the “Simulate” button generates the requested number of random samples of the same size as the original sample, taken from a population that matches the claimed distribution. Then, the distribution of color in the simulated sample is displayed, and the value of the chi-square test statistic for each sample is calculated and graphed on the dotplot.

Simulate sample(s) and add to the dotplot.
The most recent sample's color distribution and χ2 value will be displayed.

Plot approximate χ2 density curve
Count the number and percent of dots

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