To Chip or Not To Chip?

Final Symposium Project Report

By: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr.

Materials

  • Plate (minimum 36 cm diameter)
  • Ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies:
  • Tollhouse chocolate chips (1 bag, 280 grams)
  • Flour (540 ml dry volume)
  • Baking Soda (5 ml dry volume)
  • Salt (5 ml dry volume)
  • Butter (2 sticks, 240 ml)
  • Sugar (180 ml dry volume)
  • Brown Sugar (180 ml dry volume)
  • Vanilla Extract (5 ml)
  • 2 large eggs
  • Baking sheet
  • Oven
  • Sugar cookies (50 cookies) (prepackaged)

Procedure

  1. Prepare chocolate chip cookies according to manufacturer’s specifications.
  2. Preheat oven to 375° F.
  3. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
  4. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
  5. If baking at high elevations, please consult the manufacturer’s website for additional instructions.
  6. A minimum of 50 cookies will be necessary for this study.
  7. Open the package of prepackaged sugar cookies.
  8. Place five chocolate chip cookies and five sugar cookies on a plate.
  9. Deliver the plate to Mr. Mosser’soffice during 4thblock (when he has a planning period).
  10. Leave the plate of cookies in a conspicuous place within Mr. Mosser’soffice.
  11. Leave the room.
  12. After 85 minutes, return to the room and collect the remaining cookies.
  13. Count the number of cookies of each type remaining, and record the information in a data table. (# Cookies consumed = #Starting Cookies - # Cookies Remaining)
  14. Repeat steps 3-7 on ten different days, recording the results from each trial. Be sure to always drop off the cookie plate at the same time for each trial.
  15. After ten trials, calculate the average number of each type of cookie that was consumed. Compare the averages for chocolate chip vs. sugar cookies to determine the validity of the hypothesis.

Results

Results of this experiment are summarized in the following table:

Table 1: Numerical Results

Trial Number / Date / Time Cookies Deployed / Time Cookie Plate Retrieved / Number of Chocolate Chip Cookies Consumed / Number of Sugar Cookies Consumed / Notes
1 / 2/28/12 / 2:20pm / 3:45 pm / 4 / 1
2 / 3/1/12 / 2:22 pm / 3:42 pm / 2 / 0
3 / 3/3/12 / 2:25 pm / 3:48 pm / 3 / 2
4 / 3/9/12 / 2:19 pm / 3:43 pm / 5 / 2
5 / 3/11/12 / 2:22 pm / 3:44 pm / 1 / 3 / Some cookies deployed on this date may have been eaten by a mouse observed in the office, rather than by Mr. Mosser.
6 / 3/12/12 / 2:20 pm / 3:51 pm / 3 / 1
7 / 3/14/12 / 2:21 pm / 3:39 pm / 2 / 2
8 / 3/15/12 / 2:15 pm / 3:41 pm / 4 / 2
9 / 3/18/12 / 2:22 pm / 3:47 pm / 5 / 5
10 / 3/19/12 / 2:28 pm / 3:48 pm / 3 / 1
Average Cookies Per Trial: / 3.2 / 1.9

Another way to examine the data is to consider the percentages of total cookie consumption on each day of the trial.

Table 2: Percentage Results

Trial Number / Number of Chocolate Chip Cookies Consumed / Number of Sugar Cookies Consumed / Total Cookies Consumed / % Chocolate Chip Cookies / % Sugar Cookies
1 / 4 / 1 / 5 / 80 / 20
2 / 2 / 0 / 2 / 100 / 0
3 / 3 / 2 / 5 / 60 / 40
4 / 5 / 2 / 7 / 71.4 / 28.6
5 / 1 / 3 / 4 / 25 / 75
6 / 3 / 1 / 4 / 75 / 25
7 / 2 / 2 / 4 / 50 / 50
8 / 4 / 2 / 6 / 67 / 33
9 / 5 / 5 / 10 / 50 / 50
10 / 3 / 1 / 4 / 75 / 25
TOTALS / 32 / 19 / 51 / 63% / 37%

Graph

Conclusions

Hypothesis: If a plate of different cookies is left unattended near Mr. Mosser, then chocolate chip cookies will disappear (presumably consumed by Mr. Mosser) more than other types of cookies.

Based on our analysis of the data obtained during the study period, this experiment seems to confirm the hypothesis that when cookies left unattended in the vicinity of Mr. Mosser, there will be differential cookie consumption, with chocolate chip cookies being consumed more than other types of cookies.

Supporting results include the fact that nine of the ten trials, the number of chocolate chip cookies consumed was equal to or exceeded the number of sugar cookies consumed. (As noted in the table notes, external conditions may have affected the results of the one trial in which more sugar cookies were consumed than chocolate chip.) On average, 3.2 chocolate chip cookies were consumed during each trial, compared to only 1.9 sugar cookies. These results appear to suggest a preference for chocolate chip cookies.

In addition, when looking at the total number of cookies consumed over all trials, 63% of all cookies consumed were chocolate chip, compared to only 37% sugar cookies.

Data Gaps

During one trial (Trial 5) a mouse was observed scurrying in the room where the cookies were left for Mr. Mosser. The mouse was not directly observed eating any of the cookies; however the possibility cannot be conclusively excluded, and may explain the anomalous results obtained for that trial.

It was suggested to the experimenters that it may be the case that Mr. Mosser simply does not care for sugar cookies, and that another cookie (e.g. gingerbread or oatmeal-raisin) may fare better when paired against the chocolate chip cookies. Future experiments in this field may include several different types of cookies in order to further explore Mr. Mosser’scookie preferences beyond the two varieties represented in this study.

For purposes of this study, partially eaten cookies were counted as “consumed” if more than 50% of the cookie was missing. Such rounding errors are not considered likely to have affected the overall results; however, a better method of cookie accounting may improve the accuracy of precision of future studies.