Courses

The field of sensory and consumer science is primarily focused on responses of consumers to food products and non-food, fast-moving consumer goods (e.g., shampoo). These responses may be sensory/perceptual (i.e., how sweet, how bitter, how smooth) or affective (i.e., liking / preference), with the assumption that the former generally drives the latter. The course also addresses contemporary research on pedagogy that indicates applied statistics are best taught in context to the field in which students will apply the statistical concepts. Here, students will gain practice applying introductory statistical topics (t-tests, Analysis of Variance, etc) to sensory and consumer data collected from human participants.

The main objective of this course is to allow each student to develop the data analysis skills needed for analyzing and interpreting sensory and consumer data. Additionally, students will develop an understanding for experimental designs and statistical analyses to plan, analyze, and interpret data collected from sensory studies. Hands-on experiences in analyzing sensory data will be provided through homework assignments and discussions of appropriate literature where indicated.

This course aims to allow each student to develop and apply the fundamental dimensions and value of consumer insights to product development objectives; implement key qualitative, quantitative, and hybrid approaches for consumer insights; recognize, identify, and apply key consumer biases; and examine trade-offs in research and consumer behavior. Real-world practical examples and assignments will be utilized extensively in the form of discussion forums, quizzes, literature critiques, and a final project.

Descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, power, estimation, confidence intervals, regression, one- and two-way ANOVA, chi-square tests, diagnostics.