The Cookie Challenge

1
The Cookie Challenge

• Lindsay Arthur
• Erin Harker
• Holly Shaffer
• Kristin Weekley

2
Objectives

• Do more expensive ingredients make better-tasting
  cookies?
• Do males/females differ in cookie preference?
  Class year? Season of birth? Region of country?
• Does double-blind make a difference?

3
Hypothesis

• Null Hypothesis Based on advertising in the
  United States, more expensive ingredients taste
  better. A gt B
• Alternate Hypothesis Less expensive cookies
  actually taste better. A lt B

4
Method

• Research
• Funding
• Shopping
• Baking

5
Baking

• Tollhouse Recipe
• One Baker, One Observer
• Same method for each batch, no doubling
• Same oven, same day
• 1200 Cookies!

6
Survey

• Collis, Novack, Thayer, Choates, Hop
• Double-blind vs. Single-blind
• Procedure

7
Sample Population

• 373 responses
• 172 males, 198 females, 3 who knows?
• 74 03s
• 44 04s
• 101 05s
• 132 06s
• 22 others

8
Analysis

• Hypothesis Test
• Chi-Squared Independence Tests
• Birthday/Cookie Pref
• Ideal Cookie/Cookie Pref
• Class Year/Cookie Pref
• Blindness/Cookie Pref
• Region/Cookie Pref
• Gender/Cookie Pref, Gender/Ideal Cookie

9
Preferences
10
Region Analysis
11
Birthday Season
12
Tester
13
Ideal Cookies
14
Possible Flaws

• Water Ideal, but not feasible
• Some burnt cookies
• Sampling space - dining halls, timing
• Group Influence
• Tollhouse Recipe

15
Conclusion

• Independence
• Not So Sweet, MidWest
• Hypothesis Test
• Significant at 10 confidence interval, so
  tending towards significance
• Nearly equal percentages of preferring AB, so
  still important results

16
Future.