Microwave Popcorn

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Microwave Popcorn

Introduction

The popping of corns has been done for commercial purposes and the reason we have very many of them lying in groceries for the people to purchase. In its usage, many people for different reasons, some for health purposes and food, others for holiday enjoyments and decorations, and others eat popcorns as a staple food. During the popping of the corn, the number of kernels popped will give varied results in the outcome of the popcorns depending on the brand of the microwave popcorn. We will analyse this deeply through a scientific experimental procedure. Popcorns must be the most common foodstuffs that have been eaten by almost all ages of people. The corn used for making popcorns will explode upon exposure to high temperatures and this is achieved once the kernel puffs out due to some small water volumes inside the corn (David & Zimmerman, 2001). Due to the presence of a hard outer cover, the corn is able to easily pop after pressure has build up in the inside of the kernel.

Problem Statement

It can be very challenging when one decides to buy the best popcorns giving him the exact value for his money. When we are to purchase some popcorn from the grocery, we will note that different brand of the corn exist. The question is whether these brands will be a result of similar amounts of kernels popped to come up with the popcorns. Different popcorns will have different qualities and tastes, and therefore there must be the existence of some relationship between the popcorn brand and the popped kernels. It therefore must be true there is a big difference between different kernels brands in terms of the kernel popped. In order to address this big question, it would be necessary to carry out a scientific research and analyse it to come up with a viable solution. More and more people find themselves confused on what kind of brand they have to go for, and therefore this study will help them know the kind of brand they can go for easily.

Relevance of the question

It has occurred in many schools that the convenience of popcorns has been one of the cheapest sources of snacks for modern day students in different schools. These popcorns yet occur in different brands, which are presumed to have been derived from different popcorn kernels. Very many of the students will always have microwaves from which they can easily access their popcorns. That being the case, the shopping of these microwave popcorns has been something quite overwhelming to the consumer, the student, since they with them provide very many brands from the groceries and shops. This will make the students keenly to consider some of the existing varieties before they make their final choice on the popcorn to buy. Any given student will definitely experience a number of problems in trying to find out the brand giving him/her the best taste, while also popping the most of the kernels in order to provide him/her with the best value for his money. This question will thus make the development of these decisions easy for any other related popcorn consumer.

Literature Review

The consumption of popcorn is something that has been done for very many years up to today. Different people have used popcorns for different purposes from business to entertainment. According to David & Zimmerman (2001), popcorns will be produced from different kernels. This will be the key determinants, which determine the taste, and the quality of the popcorn produced. From past research, it has been noted that the quality of popcorns will depend on the kernels popped, and this will have similar impacts on the taste of the popcorn. It has however not been indicated how these variations of brands will be affected by the amount of kernels being popped. David and Zimmerman (2001) also published an experiment in which the number of kernels popped was different for different brands of corns used for popcorns. This means that further study should be carried out to see how we can estimate the overall amount of kernels popped to produce what type of brand. Once this has been established, the consumer will be able to know the brand he will have to go for from the market place. Students from Iowa State University in 2002 did a similar experiment and they were able to find that there was a difference when exact numbers of kernels were popped for different popcorn brands. This will bring me to this experiment in order to understand which of the common brands of popcorns will provide the user with the best price, value, taste and quality. In July 2008, Priyakara Yoga did an experiment to find out the microwave corn that pops in the best and easier way and ended up writing a scholarly article about the experiment. From his experiment he ended up concluding that different popcorns which have different results once popped with a microwave either for personal consumption or for commercial purposes. It is therefore from these two works that we can dram into carrying a similar research in order to determine how different corns will give different results once popped. With the two experiments, there had been the use of equal number of kernels, which were popped to give varied results.

Experimental Design

In the experiment, only four brands of the microwave popcorn had to be evaluated. This would feature the taste and the number of kernels that would remain unpopped in the experiment. These are the four major brands of the microwave popcorns that had to be used in our study: Gourmet Orville Redenbacher’s Popcorn Flavor, Act 2 Flavor Butter Popcorn, Crocker’s Betty Pop Home-style Butter Popcorn Flavor, and End Butter Trail’s Flavor Popcorn. Concerning their selection, the brands were chosen from the fact they are the major common brands of microwave popcorn purchased the most by the consumers. In order to come up with excellent results, reliable criteria had to be applied. The first criterion in the study was to come up with the key brand, which had been known by consumers to have the best taste from the information given by fervent popcorn consumers. The taste would be rated using a scale of 1 – 10. 10 would mean the best popcorn taste. All the brands of microwave popcorns were put in equal numbers in a microwave for equal time durations of two-half minutes, and then taken for the analysis.

The second important criterion was to determine the brand which gave the least kernels unpopped in the bag. This was easily determined by keenly counting the kernels that had remained in each of the four the bags. These measures like ensuring proper timing would all ensure that  there was absolute no internal validity threats. With internal validity, there experiment would be carried properly to ensure the best results were obtained. The accuracy would also be useful for smooth project analysis and be able to come up with reputable information. The dependent variables would be weight and kernel numbers. The independent will be time and amount of popcorns. All these variables would be monitored carefully in order to come up with the best results from the experiment. Controlled variables would be the amount of heat subjected to the brands of popcorns. A group of people would be required for doing the analysis. During the experiment, the microwave had to be turned on for the popping process. Also, different corns were used such that they had similar weights so that the results can be quite reliable. A good experimental design is very relevant since it ensures that there is accuracy of the data obtained hence giving the best results and analysis.

Hypothesis

In order to come up with the hypothesis, it was necessary to keenly study the literature review and get more information from the people on how they perceived the taste and quality of different brands of popcorns. The hypothesis for the study was: Most of the popular brands of popcorn that are purchased in the grocery store will tend to have the different results in regards to amount of kernels popped. In addition, there other hypothesis was that the dependant variable in popping would entirely be dependent on the independent variables.

Data Collection and Results

The first brand was the Trail’s: this came first in terms of popcorn taste.  The panel said that it was sweet, buttery and of good flavor. Only a few people said it had a bad smell and taste. It had an overall of 9 in the 1 to 10 scale.  It also had the highest number of kernels that were left in the bag, nineteen. With Orville, it ranked second place in its taste with an average of 8.1 on the 1 to 10 scale. It was the brand that had the lowest number of kernels unpopped, five. Betty Flavor ranked third place in its taste with an average of 4.4 on the 1-10 scale. Few comments were voiced about this brand and it had eighteen kernels that remained unpopped in the bag. The final brand was Act II, which was the least in terms of taste by the panel. Many said it had a very bland and ‘burning’ taste, and also lacked salt and butter in its taste and had also dried out giving a value of 3.9 on the scale of ten. Exactly eleven kernels remained unpopped in the bag.

A graphical representation of the results

Conclusion

From the experiment, I have noted that my hypothesis is true. This is because different brands of popcorns have shown to give different results on the number of kernels used. This also makes the taste and quality of the popcorn vary. Therefore, it will be necessary to agree that the use of scientific experiments is the major tool, which can help resolve the problems faced today and come up with ways in which we can address them. From the study, it can be very easy for any other wiling individual to follow a similar procedure and be able to analyse any other different popcorn brands that may exist in his or her locality. This replication is for sure a true evaluation of validity because it involves the use of similar scientific approach in addressing similar problems, though in another very different brands of popcorn. Having given the necessary analysis and graphical representation, we can be able to provide the solution to all those who consume popcorns on how they can go about it when purchasing them.

Reference

David, G. & Zimmerman, (2001). The Random House Guide to Technical and Scientific Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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