{"id":17731,"date":"2014-10-22T11:54:45","date_gmt":"2014-10-22T15:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/?p=17731"},"modified":"2014-10-22T11:54:45","modified_gmt":"2014-10-22T15:54:45","slug":"munching-the-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2014\/10\/22\/munching-the-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Munching the Numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Debra Schleef\u2019s students got a sweet assignment this fall.<\/p>\n

\"Debra<\/a>
Debra Schleef, professor of sociology, turns her Quantitative Research Methods and Analysis course into the tastier \u201cCandy Lab\u201d each October. Photo by Norm Shafer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And, if you don\u2019t think learning about univariate statistics sounds sweet, think again. Chocolate changes everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pumped to get started on this,\u201d said senior sociology major<\/a> Lauren Boyle, who tore into a bag of M&M\u2019s in a late-morning lab in Monroe 114.<\/p>\n

Each October Schleef, professor of sociology, turns her Quantitative Research Methods and Analysis course into the tastier \u201cCandy Lab.\u201d M&M\u2019s add color to the curriculum and whet students\u2019 appetites for concepts, like random probability sampling, that might otherwise seem tedious.<\/p>\n

Working in pairs, Boyle and her classmates ripped open bags of the button-shaped morsels and set aside 50 pieces. Schleef let them slurp up the extras \u2013 with one caveat.<\/p>\n

\u201cRandomly eat them,\u201d she said. \u201cDon\u2019t eat only one color, or you\u2019ll ruin the results.\u201d<\/p>\n

They counted the green, red, yellow, brown, orange, and blue M&M\u2019s in their bags, while Schleef drew equations on a whiteboard at the front of the class. The students then used the numbers to calculate mean and standard deviation.<\/p>\n

The most difficult part? Not devouring the data.<\/p>\n

\"Photos <\/a>
Photos by Cristina Pellegrino ’15 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"DSC00140-(2)\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"DSC00149-(2)\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"DSC00132\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

A computer can crunch the numbers in seconds, so those who took time to do the calculations by hand \u2013 and fully understand the concept \u2013 got extra credit. Later, Schleef explained how their results could be used to illustrate the central limit theorem and predict how often each color might occur in any given M&M\u2019s package.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a mouthwatering exercise that lets students touch and taste theories instead of just reading about them in textbooks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little bit goofy, but unique and fun,\u201d said Schleef, who promises a pay-off at the end of class. \u201cAnd [the students] get to eat the M&M\u2019s after.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

M&M’s give sociology students a taste for statistics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":17761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,81],"tags":[66,89,12],"class_list":{"0":"post-17731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-show","8":"category-umw-home","9":"tag-bio","10":"tag-dschleef","11":"tag-sociology","12":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMunching the Numbers - Great Minds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2014\/10\/22\/munching-the-numbers\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/22\\\/munching-the-numbers\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/22\\\/munching-the-numbers\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7\"},\"headline\":\"Munching the Numbers\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-22T15:54:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/22\\\/munching-the-numbers\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":344,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/22\\\/munching-the-numbers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/MM-Class-4_HP.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"bio\",\"Debra Schleef\",\"Sociology and Anthropology\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Show on Great Minds\",\"UMW Home Page\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/22\\\/munching-the-numbers\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/22\\\/munching-the-numbers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/22\\\/munching-the-numbers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Munching the Numbers - 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