Allison Faulkenberry

EMS 480, Spring 2018

Exploring the Chi-Square Statistic

Mathematics Learning Objective:

1. Students will be able to write hypotheses for a χ2 Goodness of Fit Test
2. Students will be able to define observed and expected counts
3. Students will be able to define the χ2 statistic
4. Students will be able to calculate the χ2 statistic
5. Students will be able to interpret values of the χ2 statistic
6. Students will be able to make decisions about the hypotheses based on a sample χ2 and a simulated
sampling distribution of χ2

Language Objectives:
1. Develop a statistical test for goodness of fit based on a mathematical model that is appropriate for the
data
2. Compare a sample statistic to values in a sampling distribution
3. Describe possible hypotheses for a significance test
4. Interpret the meaning of a test statistic
5. Justify evidence for or against a hypothesis

Essential Question: ​How can a chi-square statistic help us make decisions on whether each component of a
distribution is equally likely to occur?

Common Core State Mathematics Standards:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSS.IC.A.1
Understand statistics as a process for making inferences about population parameters based on a random
sample from that population.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSS.IC.A.2: Decide if a specified model is consistent with results from a given
data-generating process, e.g., using simulation.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP4 Model with mathematics.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP7 Look for and make use of structure.

Materials: ​Copies of “Schoolopoly Task” handout (one per student), device such as laptop, Chromebook, or
tablet with access to the internet, calculators (one per student), classroom projector connected to device

Notes to the reader: ​Beforehand, have each of the following on a separate tab open in your internet browser
and projected to the class:
● A digital copy of the “Schoolopoly Task” handout
● The Schoolopoly simulation: ​https://www.geogebra.org/m/KBAEuEJh
● The fair dice-rolling simulation: ​https://tinyurl.com/ycwq4nyl
● Google Form for submitting the χ2 statistics: Use your own Google Form (docs.google.com/forms)
creation & link. Possible setup:
 ● https://codap.concord.org/
It is assumed that students have already experienced
● Writing null and alternative hypotheses for population parameters for significance testing
● Basic probability and understanding of equally likely events
● The Law of Large numbers and the advantages of repeating trials or samples many times
● Sampling distributions
● Basics of Inference Testing

Detailed Plan for Instructional Time:

Time: 90 minutes
Time What is the teacher doing? What are students doing?

5 minutes Introduction Introduction

Pass out “Schoolopoly Task” handout (see Students will be reading along with the
appendix). Read first paragraph to introduce the teacher on their “Schoolopoly Task” handouts
investigation of Luckytown Dice Company’s dice and raising their hands to respond to teacher
fairness. posed questions.

Question Posed to Students:​ In what ways

could we investigate the fairness of this
company’s dice?

Possible Student Response: ​Roll the dice

many times and record the number of times
each number appears.

Question Posed to Students:​ How will we

know if the dice are fair or not once we have
recorded the number of times each number
appears?
 Possible Student Response: ​The number of
appearances should be the same for each
number on the die.

Question Posed to Students:​ Do the number

of appearances have to be exactly the same
for all six numbers for us to consider the die to
be fair?

Possible Student Response: ​No, but the

number of appearances should be pretty close
to being the same.

Teacher: (Rhetorical question)​ ​How​ close

must the number of appearances be in order for
us to consider the dice fair? With this task, we
will develop a test statistic that allows us to
measure the “closeness” of the appearances of
the six numbers on the die and therefore will
allow us to make the appropriate decision on the
fairness on the die.

3 min Hypotheses Hypotheses

Teacher:​ “​We will begin by stating hypotheses.
Recall that a null hypothesis should state a claim
about our population of interest.​”
Question Posed to Students:​ Do you have
any ideas about what our null hypothesis
should say?
Possible Student Response: ​We should
state that the company’s dice are fair (or that
each side is equally likely to appear).
Teacher will direct students to write the null
hypothesis on their handouts:
H 0 : Each number on Luckytown Dice
Company’s dice faces are equally likely to
appear.
Question Posed to Students:​ Do you have
any ideas about what our alternative
hypothesis should say?
Possible Student Response: ​We should
Students will follow along and participate by
raising their hands to write the null and
alternative hypotheses on the “Schoolopoly
Task” handout.
Possible Question Posed to Teacher:
Why would we not let the null hypothesis
be that the company’s dice are ​unfair​?
Possible Teacher Response: ​Remember
in significance tests, we are practicing the
“innocent until proven guilty” approach.
Let’s give the company the benefit of the
doubt and use our sample to either
conclude they are fair or unfair.
Possible Question Posed to Teacher:​ In
past hypothesis tests, we have used
symbols such as μ and ​p.​ Why are we no
longer using these symbols?
Possible Teacher Response: ​Note that
we are stating a claim about a ​distribution
of a categorical variable (result of dice roll)
 state that the company’s dice are ​not ​fair (or
that each side is ​not​ equally likely to appear).
Teacher will direct students to write the null
hypothesis on their handouts:
H a : Each number on Luckytown Dice
Company’s dice faces are​ not​ equally likely to
appear.
instead of a single parameter. It is simply
easier to write in words instead of symbols.
We could however, use symbols if we
wanted to:
H 0 : p1 = 61 , p2 = 61 , p3 = 61 , p4 = 61 , p5 = 61 ,
p6 = 61
H a : at least two of the pi ’s are incorrect
Where pi = the true proportion of
appearances of each number on the dice

3 min Expected Counts Expected Counts

The teacher will read the next line on the The students will follow along with the
“Schoolopoly Task” handout (“Imagine that you teacher and read the next line on the
would like to roll…”) “Schoolopoly Task” handout ( (“Imagine that
you would like to roll…”)
Teacher: ​“Take a moment to think about this
question and write down the values you would Students will individually write down in Table
expect for each number if the die is fair in Table 1 on the handout what they believe to be the
1.” answer to the question: “If the dice is fair,
how many times would you expect each
Give students 30-45 seconds to do this. The number on the faces of the dice to appear?”
teacher will walk around the room and make
sure students are answering in the appropriate
table on the handout. The teacher will also look
for students with incorrect answers and speak
with them individually or address as a whole
class.

Possible Misconception: ​Some students

may write ⅙ for each number. Explain to these
students that the table wanted the ​counts​ for
each number, not the probability.

Question Posed to Students:​ Would anyone

like to share their distribution?
Possible Student Response: ​I wrote down
83.3 for each number.
Question Posed to Students:​ Where did the
value 83.3 come from?
Possible Student Response: ​If the die is fair,
each of the six sides has a ⅙ probability of
ending up on top. Since there are 500 total
rolls, we would expect 500(⅙) = 83.3
Possible Question Posed to Teacher:​ I
rounded to 83. Shouldn’t the values be
whole numbers?
Possible Teacher Response: ​These
numbers are ​expected​ counts. They
represent the ​average​ number of
observations in a given category in many,
many random samples (500 in this case).
 appearance for each number.

Teacher:​ “​The values you just found are called

expected counts. You can find the definition on
your handout.”

Direct students to the definition of expected

counts on the handout. Students will read the definition of ​expected
counts​ on their handout.

10 min Simulation Simulation

Teacher​: “​To save time, we have a simulation of

Luckytown Dice Company’s die. We will each roll
the company’s die 500 times using this
simulator.

Question Posed to Students:​ Why do you

think we chose 500 as the number of times we
will roll the die?

Possible Student Response: ​We should roll

a large number of times so that we can see
the number of appearances of each side on
the die in the long run.

On your device, navigate to the link provided on Students will type the link into their internet
your handout: browsers.
https://www.geogebra.org/m/KBAEuEJh​.”

The teacher will give the students 30-45 seconds

to do this. On the class projector, show the
website. Then, walk around the room to check
that students are successfully entering the
website address.

Once all students have reached the page:

Teacher: “​First, please make sure there is a
checkmark beside ‘Luckytown Dice Company.’
Next, change the ‘Number of Rolls’ to 500. Click
somewhere on the page and the simulator will
show the results of 500 rolls of the die.”
The teacher should follow her own instructions
on the website projected on the screen to the
class for the students to use as reference.
Students will follow the teacher’s prompt to
make sure there is a checkmark beside
‘Luckytown Dice Company’ and change the
‘Number of Rolls’ to 500. Students will then
observe their results of 500 rolls of the die.
Students can reference the teacher’s
projected simulation if necessary to follow
along

An example of the simulation setup and a result

of the simulation:
 Question Posed to Students:​ What are your
initial thoughts to the fairness of Luckytown
Dice Company’s dice based on your
simulation of 500 rolls?

Possible Student Response: ​I believe it is

unfair because the number 4 did not appear
as often as the other numbers.

Teacher:​ “​Great observation. But did this Students will read the definition of “observed
happen by chance or is the dice really unfair? It counts” on their handout then observe the
appears as if the other numbers appear about percentages in the table given on the website
the same number of times, doesn’t it? Let’s and use their calculators (if so inclined) to
explore further. Note the simulation gives the multiply each percentage by 500 and record
percentage for each number in a table at the top in Table 2 on the handout.
left of the webpage. Use these percentages to
calculate the ​observed counts​, that is, the
number of times each number appears in your
sample of 500, and write them in Table 2 on your
handout. For example, on my simulation of 500
rolls, the number 1 appeared 17.8% of the time.
This would be 500(.178)=89 appearances.
The definition of observed counts can be found
on your handout.”

Give the students 1-2 minutes to make their

calculations. Walk around the room making sure
each student is on task and assisting those who
need additional instruction.

Teacher:​ “​After you have completed your
calculations, take a moment to read and answer
question 3 on your handout.”
The teacher will walk around the room for 2-3
minutes to make sure students are on task and
read sample responses to the question.
Students will read and answer the problem,
“Compare your observed counts with your
expected counts. Do the differences or
similarities lead you to believe that the dice
are fair or unfair?”

Question Posed to Students:​ Will a student

 please read their response to question 3?

Possible Student Response: ​My observed

counts were different from my expected
counts. All of my observed counts for numbers
1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 are larger than expected
(83.3), while the observed counts for 5 is
much lower than expected. Since these
observations are different than I would expect
if the dice are fair, I believe that Luckytown
Dice Company’s dice are unfair.

Teacher: ​“​Good job. Now that you’ve noticed

that there differences between the observed and
expected counts, we can calculate a test statistic
that measures this difference, just like z and t Students will locate and read along the
measured how far a sample value is from the definition of chi-square on the handout. They
hypothesized value in our previous hypothesis will also be listening quietly to the teacher’s
tests. It is called a chi-square statistic and the introduction to the chi-square test statistic.
definition is written on your handout, ‘...a test
statistic that measures how far the observed
counts are from the expected counts…’. Note
that χ is the lowercase Greek letter chi,
pronounced ‘kye’ not ‘chee’ or ‘chye’.”

12 min Calculating Chi-Square Calculating Chi-Square

Teacher:​ “​Find Table 3 on your handout. We will Students will locate the first column in Table
use this table to calculate chi-square. First, copy 3 on their handouts and write their observed
your observed counts from Table 2 into the first counts for all rows.
column labeled ‘Observed Counts’.

Give the students 30 seconds or so to do this.

Walk around the room looking that the students
are on task and they are all filling in reasonable
values for all rows in the first column.

Teacher: “​Now, copy your expected counts from Students will locate Table 3 on their handouts
Table 1 into the second column.” and write 83.3 for all rows in the second
column.
Give the students 30 seconds or so to do this.
Walk around the room looking that the students
are on task and they are all filling in 83.3 for all
rows in the second column.

Teacher: ​“​Now, notice the next column asks us

to subtract the observed counts and the
expected counts.”

Question Posed to Students:​ Why do you

 think we need to find this difference?

Possible Student Response: ​This test

statistic is supposed to measure the difference
between our observed and expected counts,
so it makes sense for us to subtract the two.

Students will locate the third column in Table

Teacher:​ “​Take a moment to subtract your 3 on their handouts and calculate ​observed
expected counts from your observed counts for count - expected count​ for all rows.
each value of the die.”

Give the students 60 seconds or so to do this.

Walk around the room looking that the students
are on task and they are all filling in reasonable
values for all rows in the third column.
Students will raise their hands to answer
Question Posed to Students:​ Notice that questions posed by the teacher.
most of these values are positive. What does
that mean?

Possible Student Response: ​It means that

the observed counts are larger than the
expected counts for most of our dice faces.

Question Posed to Students:​ Which dice

value will definitely have a negative
difference?

Possible Student Response:​ 5

Teacher: ​“​Now, notice the next column asks us

to square the differences between the observed
counts and the expected counts that we
calculated in the third column.”

Question Posed to Students:​ Why do you

think we should square these values?

Possible Student Response:​ The sum of the

differences will always add to zero since these
are the distances above and below the
expected value 83.3.

If the students have trouble answering the

above question, ask them to add their
differences in column three, then repose the
question.
 Make sure to ask ​why​ the differences will
always add to zero.
Teacher:​ “​Take a moment to square your
differences in column 3 and record them in each
row of column 4.”
Students will locate the fourth column in
Table 3 on their handouts and calculate
(​observed count - expected count )2 , ​with the
assistance of their calculators, for all rows.

Give the students 60 seconds or so to do this.

Walk around the room looking that the students
are on task and they are all filling in reasonable
values for all rows in the fourth column.
Students will locate the fifth column in Table
Teacher: ​“​Now, notice the next column asks us 3 on their handouts and calculate (​observed
to divide the square the differences between the count - expected count
observed counts and the expected counts by the )2 / expected count, ​with the assistance of
expected counts. We do this because we want to their calculators, for all rows.
measure the distance between the observed and
expected counts relative to the expected counts.
Take a moment to divide the square of your
differences in column 4 by the corresponding
expected count and record them in each row of
column 5.”

Give the students 60 seconds or so to do this.

Walk around the room looking that the students
are on task and they are all filling in reasonable
values for all rows in the fifth column.
Students will find the sum of each value in
Teacher:​ “​Our last step in our calculation of the last column of Table 3 and record it in the
chi-square is to add the values in the last space provided below Table 3.
column. Take a moment to do this and record in
the space provided below Table 3.”

Give the students 30 seconds or so to do this.

Walk around the room looking that the students
are on task and they are all filling in reasonable
values for chi-square.

20 min Simulated Sampling Distribution Simulated Sampling Distribution

Teacher will move to the front of the room to Students should be looking at teacher and
engage in a conversation with students about engaging in conversation by raising their
the implications of chi-square. hands to respond to the posed questions.

Teacher: ​If we think of χ2 as a distance

between the observed and expected counts, we
would imagine that a χ2 value equal to zero
means that the observed counts are exactly
equal to the expected counts.
 Question Posed to Students:​ What do you
think it means as values of χ2 ​increase?

Possible Student Response:​ There is a

larger distance overall between the observed
counts and expected counts.

Students will read Question 5 on the handout

Teacher: “​Take a moment to answer Question 5 and write a response individually.
on your handout, “How do you think the value of
χ2 changes when the dice are fair versus when
they are unfair?”

Allow the students 60 seconds or so to write a

response to this question. Walk around the room
to make sure students are on task and read
silently a few sample responses.

Question Posed to Students:​ Will a student

please read their response to question 5?

Possible Student Response: ​I think that

values of chi-square will be larger when the
dice are unfair because it means that the
observed counts are further away from the
expected counts if the die were fair.

Question Posed to Students:​ Do larger

values of χ2 support stronger evidence for H 0
or H a ?

Possible Student Response:​ There is

stronger evidence for H a because it means
that the observed counts are far from what we
would expect if H 0 were true.
Students will use their devices to navigate to
https://tinyurl.com/ycwq4nyl​.
Teacher: (Rhetorical Question)​: “​Do you think
the chi-square statistic you calculated is large or
small? To answer this, let’s compare your value Possible Question Posed to Teacher:​ I
against the sampling distribution that shows how can’t remember - what is a sampling
χ2 would vary in repeated random sampling of distribution?
500 rolls if it was known that the dice were fair.
On your devices, please navigate to Possible Teacher Response: ​A sampling
https://tinyurl.com/ycwq4nyl​.” distribution is a graph that shows a statistic
that has been calculated repeatedly from
The teacher will navigate to this website on the the results of many, many samples of the
projector for student reference. The teacher will same size from the same population. In
make sure the settings are set to: this case, we are going to look at a
sampling distribution of the calculation of
Roll 1 dice χ2 ​if it was calculated every time we rolled
500 times
6 sided
Then, the teacher will walk around the room to
make sure students are on task and navigating
to the correct webpage.
The teacher will move to the projector and run
the simulation along with the students. The
teacher will point out the settings and scroll
down the webpage to show the students the
generated results.
Teacher:​ “​Now that everyone is on the
webpage, make sure you settings are set to
Roll 1 dice, 500 times, 6 sided. Then, click the
“Roll” button. Scroll down the page and you will
see a column with the heading “Generated.”
These are the observed counts from you roll of a
fair dice 500 times. Locate Table 4 on your
handout and record these observed results.”
The teacher will give the students 30 seconds or
so to write down their generated results.
Teacher:​ “​Once you have recorded your
observed counts from your 500 rolls of a fair
dice, locate Question 7 on your handout.
Question 7 asks you to calculate χ2 for your
generated observed counts. Please take a
moment to do that now. Use our previous
calculation of χ2 for reference if you need
assistance. Raise your hand if you need my
help.”
The teacher will allow 2-3 minutes for students to
calculate χ2 ​on their own. The teacher will
circulate around the room assisting students and
making sure they are on task.
When it appears that most students have
calculated χ2 ,the teacher will move back to the
front of the classroom to address students.
a fair dice 500 times.
Possible Question Posed to
Teacher:​Why are we compiling a sampling
distribution of 500 rolls of a fair dice?
Possible Teacher Response: ​If we can
see the results of many calculations of χ2
from a ​fair ​die, then we can compare our
χ2 ​from Luckytown Dice Company’s die to
see if it really is unfair or if our χ2 ​could
have appeared by chance.
Students will follow along with teacher
instructions to generate 500 rolls of a fair dice
on the given website on their own devices.
Students will locate Table 4 on their handouts
and will write the observed counts generated
from the website in the spaces given.
Students will locate Table 5 on their handouts
and will use their calculators to complete the
table and find χ2 .
Possible Question Posed to
Teacher:​What expected counts should we
use this time?
Possible Teacher Response: ​We will use
the same expected counts from earlier:
83.3. Recall that 83.3 is the number of
times we would expect each number on the
dice to appear on 500 rolls if the dice is
fair.
 Teacher:​ “​After you have found your χ2 value,
take a moment to write an answer to Question 8,
“How does your value of χ2 calculated from Students will draft an answer to Question 8
Luckytown Dice Company’s 500 rolls compare to on their handouts.
your value of χ2 calculated from 500 rolls of a
known fair dice?”

Question Posed to Students:​ Raise your

hand if your χ2 statistic from Luckytown Dice
Company’s dice is larger than the χ2
calculated from the fair dice? Comments?

Possible Student Response:​ ​Everyone

should raise their hand ​The observed counts
for Luckytown Dice Company’s dice were
further away, on average, from 83.3, than the
fair dice. Therefore, we expect that the χ2 ​will
be larger if the dice isn’t fair.

Teacher:​ “​Let’s gather everyone’s chi-square

statistics so start forming our sampling
distribution. Please go to
https://goo.gl/forms/yLfG4xeyBEUBUyeY2​ ​in a Students will navigate to the Google Form to
separate tab ​on your devices and enter your submit their calculated χ2 ​statistic.
value of χ2 calculated from 500 rolls of a known
fair dice. Round to two decimal places.

The teacher will bring up the google form on the

projector for student reference. Give the
students 2-3 minutes to complete this task. Walk
around the room to gauge understanding and
completion time.

30 min Class Dotplot Class Dotplot

Once it appears the statistics have been
entered:
Students will work on their own to complete
Teacher: ​“I would now like for you to repeat this two more generated samples of 500 rolls,
process two more times. First, use the fair dice calculating the χ2 statistic, and submitting into
simulator to simulate another 500 rolls of a fair Google Forms. If students finish before other
die, calculate its students, they should sit quietly.
χ2 statistic, then submit that statistic in the
Google Form. This means you will have a total of
3 submissions of the Google Form. You may use
a separate sheet of paper to create two more
tables like Table 5, if you wish. You may record
your 3 values for χ2 in Table 6 on the handout.

Give the students 7-10 minutes to complete this

task. Walk around the room and assist if
necessary.

Make sure that all students have entered 3

submissions before proceeding.

Teacher: ​“​I will now show you sampling

distribution that has resulted from your samples.

The teacher will use CODAP to create a

sampling distribution of the class data. An
example of 40 chi-square statistics is shown:

Instructions for Creating a Dotplot using

CODAP:
1. On the results page of your Google
Forms, click the “View responses in

Sheets” button:
2. Once your spreadsheet has opened,
choose File, Download As,
Comma-separated values (.csv,
current sheet) to save your document
in .csv form.
3. Navigate to ​https://codap.concord.org/
4. Click the “Try CODAP” button, then
“Create New Document.”
5. Click the menu button in the top left
corner of the page and choose
“import”.
6. Locate the .csv file you saved in Step
2. Once you’ve selected your file, your
 table should appear.
7. Select the graph icon at the top of the

page to open a new graph.

8. Drag the heading of the column with
the chi-square values onto the ​x​-axis of
the graph.

Question Posed to Students:​ How can we

describe the sampling distribution?

Possible Student Response:​ The distribution

is right skewed, centered around a chi-square
value of 5, with little spread. Most values fall
between 1 and 10.

Teacher: ​“After looking at our resulting sampling

distribution, take a moment to answer Questions
10 and 11 on your handout.”

Give the students 5 minutes to write a response

to these two questions. Walk around the room
making sure students are on task and assist if
necessary.

Then, move to front of class to discuss the

conclusion to the investigation.

Question Posed to Students:​ How does

Luckytown Dice Company’s value of
chi-square compare to our chi-square
samples?

Possible Student Response:​ The chi-square

statistic I calculated for Luckytown Dice
Company was 73.774. This value never
occurred on the sampling distribution. This
means that obtaining a chi-square statistic this
high would be very surprising to occur by
chance if the dice were fair.

Question Posed to Students:​ What

conclusion would you make about the fairness
of Luckytown Dice Company’s die? Would you
reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis
written in Question 1?
 Possible Student Response:​ We would
reject the null hypothesis. There is significant
evidence to say each number on Luckytown
Dice Company’s dice faces are not equally
likely to appear, that is, Luckytown Dice
Company’s dice are unfair.

The teacher can assign the section labeled

Homework​ as individual practice.

Lesson adapted from:

● MOOC-Ed: Schoolopoly Task. Teaching Statistics Through Data Investigations – Spring 2015
● Starnes, The Practice of Statistics AP 4e, Chapter 11

Appendix:
● Schoolopoly Task Handout
● Homework
● Handout Possible Solutions
● Homework Possible Solutions
Name _____________________________________________ Date ________________ Class Period ______

Schoolopoly Task

Suppose your school is planning to create a board game modeled on the classic game of Monopoly. The
game is to be called Schoolopoly and, like Monopoly, will be played with dice. Because many copies of the
game expect to be sold, companies are competing for the contract to supply dice for Schoolopoly. Some
companies have been accused of making poor-quality dices, and these are to be avoided, since players must
believe the dice they are using are actually “fair.”

One such company is Luckytown Dice Company. Let’s investigate the fairness of the dice they produce.

Guided Notes

1. State a pair of hypotheses in the context of this problem.

H 0 : _____________________________________________________________

H a : _____________________________________________________________

Imagine that you would like to roll a dice from Luckytown Dice Company 500 times. If the dice is fair, how
many times would you expect each number on the faces of the dice to appear? Write these values in the table
below.

Table 1:
Number Rolled 1 2 3 4 5 6

Expected Counts in 500

rolls of Luckytown Dice
Company’s Dice

Expected counts ​are the expected numbers of appearances in the sample that would fall in each category if
H 0 were true.

Let’s each simulate rolling Luckytown Dice Company’s dice 500 times using this online applet:
https://www.geogebra.org/m/KBAEuEJh​. (​To use the applet, place a checkmark by your assigned company
and type “500” for the space beside “Number of Rolls =.”​)

Observed counts​ are the actual number of appearances for each category in a sample.
 2. Copy the observed counts of each number in the 500 rolls of your company’s dice. Note, these should
be actual numbers (out of 500) not percents.

Table 2:
Number Rolled 1 2 3 4 5 6

Observed Counts
in 500 rolls

3. Compare your observed counts with your expected counts. Do the differences or similarities lead you to
believe that the dice are fair or unfair?

Chi-square statistic​ (χ2 ) a test statistic that measures how far the observed counts are from the expected
counts.

4. Complete the following table to calculate the chi-square test statistic for your 500 rolls of Luckytown
Dice Company’s dice.

Table 3:
Observed Expected Observed - (Observed - (Observed -
2 2
Counts Counts Expected Expected ) Expected ) /
Expected

Copy from Copy from Subtract Square each Divide each

Table 1 Table 2 Expected from value in the value in the
Observed for previous previous
each number column column by its
rolled expected
Number Rolled count

Now find the sum of the values in the last column. This value is the chi-square statistic.
χ2 = _________

5. How do you think the value of χ2 changes when the dice are fair versus when they are unfair?
For comparison, let’s simulate 500 rolls of a dice that is known to be fair. ​https://tinyurl.com/ycwq4nyl

Use the settings shown above to generate counts of each number when
rolling a ​fair​ dice 500 times.

6. Write your generated counts of each number from 500 rolls of a fair die:

Table 4:
Number Rolled 1 2 3 4 5 6

Expected Counts in 500

rolls of a fair dice

7. Now calculate χ2 for your generated counts in Question 6.

Table 5:
Observed Expected Observed - (Observed - (Observed -
2 2
Counts Counts Expected Expected ) Expected ) /
Expected

Copy from Copy from Subtract Square each Divide each

Table 4 Table 2 Expected from value in the value in the
Observed for previous previous
each number column column by its
rolled expected
Number Rolled count

6
Sum of values in last column = χ2 = _________

8. How does your value of χ2 calculated from Luckytown Dice Company’s 500 rolls compare to your value
of χ2 calculated from 500 rolls of a known fair dice?

9. Simulate 500 rolls of a fair dice two more times. Calculate χ2 each time and submit all three values of
χ2 from the fair dice on this Google Form: ​https://goo.gl/forms/yLfG4xeyBEUBUyeY2​.

Table 6
Rolling a Fair Die 500 Times Value of χ2

Attempt 1

Attempt 2

Attempt 3

Your teacher will create a class dotplot of all the calculated values of χ2 in your class.

10. Based on the class dotplot, how surprising would it be to get a χ2 -value as large or larger than the one
you calculated for the 500 rolls of Luckytown Dice Company’s dice?

11. What conclusion would you make about the fairness of Luckytown Dice Company’s die? Would you
reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis written in Question 1?
Homework:

There are five other companies that have provided dice for analysis. Using the Schoolopoly dice rolling
simulation website (​https://www.geogebra.org/m/KBAEuEJh​), roll a die 500 times for each of the five
companies. Then, calculate each company’s χ2 statistic. Then, compare your value of χ2 with the class dotplot
and write a conclusion on whether you believe the company’s dice are fair.

Company Observed Counts χ2 Conclusion

Dice, Dice, Baby!

1 2 3 4 5 6

Dice ‘R’ Us
1 2 3 4 5 6

Pips and Dots

1 2 3 4 5 6

High Rollers, Inc.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Since ‘n’ Dice

1 2 3 4 5 6
Name _____________________________________________ Date ________________ Class Period ______

Schoolopoly Task ​(Possible Solutions)

Suppose your school is planning to create a board game modeled on the classic game of Monopoly. The
game is to be called Schoolopoly and, like Monopoly, will be played with dice. Because many copies of the
game expect to be sold, companies are competing for the contract to supply dice for Schoolopoly. Some
companies have been accused of making poor-quality dices, and these are to be avoided, since players must
believe the dice they are using are actually “fair.”

One such company is Luckytown Dice Company. Let’s investigate the fairness of the dice they produce.

Guided Notes

12. State a pair of hypotheses in the context of this problem.

H 0 : Each number on Luckytown Dice Company’s dice faces are equally likely to appear.

H a : Each number on Luckytown Dice Company’s dice faces are​ not​ equally likely to appear.

Imagine that you would like to roll a dice from Luckytown Dice Company 500 times. If the dice is fair, how
many times would you expect each number on the faces of the dice to appear? Write these values in the table
below.

Table 1:
Number Rolled 1 2 3 4 5 6

Expected Counts in 500

rolls of Luckytown Dice 83.3 83.3 83.3 83.3 83.3 83.3
Company’s Dice

Expected counts ​are the expected numbers of appearances in the sample that would fall in each category if
H 0 were true.

Let’s each simulate rolling Luckytown Dice Company’s dice 500 times using this online applet:
https://www.geogebra.org/m/KBAEuEJh​. (​To use the applet, place a checkmark by your assigned company
and type “500” for the space beside “Number of Rolls =.”​)
 Observed counts​ are the actual number of appearances for each category in a sample.

13. Copy the observed counts of each number in the 500 rolls of your company’s dice. Note, these will be
actual numbers (out of 500) not percents.

Table 2:
Number Rolled 1 2 3 4 5 6

Observed Counts 500(.178) = 500(.196) = 500(.168) = 500(.236) = 500(.03) = 500(.192) =

in 500 rolls 89 98 84 118 15 96
*Example Solutions

14. Compare your observed counts with your expected counts. Do the differences or similarities lead you to
believe that the dice are fair or unfair?

Possible Response: My observed counts were different from my expected counts. All of my observed counts
for numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 are larger than expected (83.3), while the observed counts for 5 is much lower
than expected. Since these observations are different than I would expect if the dice are fair, I believe that
Luckytown Dice Company’s dice are unfair.

Chi-square statistic​ (χ2 ) a test statistic that measures how far the observed counts are from the expected
counts.

15. Complete the following table to calculate the chi-square test statistic for your 500 rolls of Luckytown
Dice Company’s dice.

Table 3:
Observed Expected Observed - (Observed - (Observed -
2 2
Counts Counts Expected Expected ) Expected ) /
Expected

Copy from Copy from Subtract Square each Divide each

Table 1 Table 2 Expected from value in the value in the
Observed for previous previous
each number column column by its
rolled expected
Number Rolled count

1 89 83.3 6 36 0.404

2 98 83.3 9 81 0.972

3 84 83.3 0.7 0.49 0.006

4 118 83.3 34.7 1204.09 14.455

5 15 83.3 -68.3 4664.89 56.001

 6 96 83.3 12.7 161.29 1.936

Now find the sum of the values in the last column. This value is the chi-square statistic.
χ2 = 73.774

16. How do you think the value of χ2 changes when the dice are fair versus when they are unfair?

I think that values of chi-square will be larger when the dice are unfair because it means that the observed
counts are further away from the expected counts if the die were fair.

For comparison, let’s simulate 500 rolls of a dice that is known to be fair. ​https://tinyurl.com/ycwq4nyl

Use the settings shown above to generate counts of each number when
rolling a ​fair​ dice 500 times.

17. Write your generated counts of each number from 500 rolls of a fair die:

Table 4:
Number Rolled 1 2 3 4 5 6

Expected Counts in 500 89 89 74 79 84 85

rolls of a fair dice

18. Now calculate χ2 for your generated counts in Question 6.

Table 5:
Observed Expected Observed - (Observed - (Observed -
2 2
Counts Counts Expected Expected ) Expected ) /
Expected

Copy from Copy from Subtract Square each Divide each

Table 4 Table 2 Expected from value in the value in the
Observed for previous previous
each number column column by its
rolled expected
Number Rolled count
 1 89 83.3 5.7 32.49 0.39

2 89 83.3 5.7 32.49 0.39

3 74 83.3 -9.3 86.49 1.04

4 79 83.3 -4.3 18.49 0.22

5 84 83.3 0.7 0.49 0.01

6 85 83.3 1.7 2.89 0.03

Sum of values in last column = χ2 = 2.08

19. How does your value of χ2 calculated from Luckytown Dice Company’s 500 rolls compare to your value
of χ2 calculated from 500 rolls of a known fair dice?

My χ2 value from Luckytown Dice Company’s 500 rolls is much larger than my value of χ2 calculated from 500
rolls of a known fair dice.

20. Simulate 500 rolls of a fair dice two more times. Calculate χ2 each time and submit all three values of
χ2 from the fair dice on this Google Form: ​https://goo.gl/forms/yLfG4xeyBEUBUyeY2​.

Table 6
Rolling a Fair Die 500 Times Value of χ2

Attempt 1 2.08

Attempt 2 7.73

Attempt 3 7.2

Your teacher will create a class dotplot of all the calculated values of χ2 in your class.

21. Based on the class dotplot, how surprising would it be to get a χ2 -value as large or larger than the one
you calculated for the 500 rolls of Luckytown Dice Company’s dice?

The chi-square statistic I calculated for Luckytown Dice Company was 73.774. This value never occurred on
the sampling distribution. This means that obtaining a chi-square statistic this high would be very surprising to
occur by chance if the dice were fair.

22. What conclusion would you make about the fairness of Luckytown Dice Company’s die? Would you
reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis written in Question 1?

We would reject the null hypothesis. There is significant evidence to say each number on Luckytown Dice
Company’s dice faces are​ not​ equally likely to appear, that is, Luckytown Dice Company’s dice are unfair.
Homework:

There are five other companies that have provided dice for analysis. Using the Schoolopoly dice rolling
simulation website (​https://www.geogebra.org/m/KBAEuEJh​), roll a die 500 times for each of the five
companies. Then, calculate each company’s χ2 statistic. Then, compare your value of χ2 with the class dotplot
and write a conclusion on whether you believe the company’s dice are fair.

Company Observed Counts χ2 Conclusion

Dice ‘R’ Us 29.79 The dice are unfair.

1 2 3 4 5 6

63 93 113 98 79 54

High 19.75 The dice are unfair.

Rollers, Inc.
1 2 3 4 5 6

65 110 71 81 72 101

Dice, Dice, 30.48 The dice are unfair.

Baby!
1 2 3 4 5 6

51 86 107 104 90 62

Pips and 8.44 The dice are fair.

Dots
1 2 3 4 5 6

84 64 78 94 97 83

Since ‘n’ 74.9 The dice are unfair.

Dice
1 2 3 4 5 6
94 106 97 91 12 100