In descriptive statistics, a box plot or boxplot (also known as a box-and-whisker diagram or plot) is a convenient way of graphically depicting groups of numerical data through their five-number summaries: the smallest observation (sample minimum), lower quartile (Q1), median (Q2), upper quartile (Q3), and largest observation (sample maximum). A boxplot may also indicate which observations, if any, might be considered outliers.
Boxplots display differences between populations without making any assumptions of the underlying statistical distribution: they are non-parametric. The spacings between the different parts of the box help indicate the degree of dispersion (spread) and skewness in the data, and identify outliers. Boxplots can be drawn either horizontally or vertically.
Read more about Box Plot: Alternative Forms, Variations, Visualization
Famous quotes containing the words box and/or plot:
“We are little airy creatures,
All of different voice and features:
One of us in glass is set,
One of us youll find in jet,
Tother you may see in tin,
And the fourth a box within;
If the fifth you should pursue,
It can never fly from you.”
—Jonathan Swift (16671745)
“Ends in themselves, my letters plot no change;
They carry nothing dutiable; they wont
Aspire, astound, establish or estrange.”
—Philip Larkin (19221986)