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:
“To be black and an intellectual in America is to live in a box.... On the box is a label, not of my own choosing.”
—Stephen Carter (b. 1954)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)