Special Problem 4 – Taste is in the Mouth of the Beholder

 

Purpose:  To plan, implement, and analyze a simple taste test experiment.

 

Group Size:  Up to 4

 

Due: _____________

 

Think of a food item where there is a national brand and a “store” brand.  Keep it simple.

 

The population you are interested is only your classmates in the class, thus you are doing a census.

 

Design how you are going to conduct your experiment.  You will have to keep in mind the principles of a good experiment in you plan.  How will you handle anyone who misses your first attempt at the experiment?  How will you include blinding? How will you incorporate randomness into the experiment?

 

In order to help eliminate bias, you will run your taste test outside in the hall and those who finish will be sworn to secrecy until all have gone through.

 

Your write up will be simple.  After the cover page, you will fully describe the experiment as far as what you are testing, and how the experiment was conducted. You will then present your data, in table and bar graph form along with some comments.  Remember, you are collecting categorical data.

 

As a final touch, you will then block your data in one particular manner.  It can be as simple as male/female, or crazy like birth month.  This data will need to be collected at the same time as when you conduct the taste test.  Make a bar graph for each block and compare/contrast.  (Maybe you will get lucky and get a Simpson’s Paradox situation.)

 

 

 

Grade breakdown:            All elements present:  10%      

Experimental plan   20%

                                   Actual Experiment procedures  15%

                                   First overall analysis  20%

                                   Block Analysis   20%

                                   Group self Analysis:  15%