The Mars Candy Company actually keeps track of the number of red, blue, yellow, etc. M&MsTM there are in each batch. (These make wonderful examples for discussions of sampling.)

a) This is an example of _______ data. The company used to publish the percentage of each color in a bag, but it no longer does so—at least not in a place that I can find. However, you can find the percentages as of 2008 at https://www.exeter.edu/documents/mandm.pdf I have put a copy of that page on my own website, under the material for this chapter, but I do not deserve the credit for collecting it. The interesting M&M site itself keeps being moved around, so you may have to hunt for it.

b) How do the words “population,” “sample,” “parameter,” and “statistic” apply to the example at this link?

c) Believe it or not, there is a whole Web page devoted to how the colors of M&Ms have changed over the years. You can find it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M&M’s. It’s a fun article, though I can’t think of a question to go with it.