Vending machines on a college campus offer a variety of snacks. The purchasing agent believes that each type of snack is equally preferred by students and consequently
Orders equal quantities. The number of snacks sold from vending machines on this
Campus for the last six months is shown in the following table. The appropriate test to
See if the purchasing agent is correct is the $$\begin{array} { | c | c | c | c | c | }
\hline \text { Snack Type } & \text { Chips } & \text { Candy Bars } & \text { Crackers } & \text { Nuts } \
\hline \text { Purchase Frequency } & 159 & 198 & 174 & 149 \
\hline
\end{array}$$
A) Chi-square test of independence.
B) Z-test for two proportions.
C) Chi-square goodness-of-fit test.
D) Chi-square test of homogeneity.
E) Normality test.

Question

Vending machines on a college campus offer a variety of snacks. The purchasing agent believes that each type of snack is equally preferred by students and consequently
Orders equal quantities. The number of snacks sold from vending machines on this
Campus for the last six months is shown in the following table. The appropriate test to
See if the purchasing agent is correct is the $$\begin{array} { | c | c | c | c | c | } 
\hline \text { Snack Type } & \text { Chips } & \text { Candy Bars } & \text { Crackers } & \text { Nuts } \
\hline \text { Purchase Frequency } & 159 & 198 & 174 & 149 \
\hline
\end{array}$$
A) Chi-square test of independence.
B) Z-test for two proportions.
C) Chi-square goodness-of-fit test.
D) Chi-square test of homogeneity.
E) Normality test.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The appropriate test to determine if the purchasing agent is correct is the chi-square goodness-of-fit test. This test is used when there is a single categorical variable with more than two categories, and we want to compare the observed frequencies in each category to the expected frequencies (in this case, the expected frequency is equal for each snack type if they are equally preferred). The chi-square goodness-of-fit test will allow us to determine if there is a significant difference between the observed and expected frequencies, which will indicate whether or not the purchasing agent is correct in assuming that each type of snack is equally preferred.

Vending Machines on a College Campus Offer a Variety of Snacks