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Box Whisker Plot

A box and whisker plot is a graphical representation that summarizes data using a five-number summary, including minimum, lower quartile, median, upper quartile, and maximum values. It effectively displays data distribution, identifies outliers, and allows for easy comparison between multiple datasets. While it has advantages such as clarity and the ability to show skewness, it can also obscure certain distribution characteristics and may confuse some audiences.

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5 views6 pages

Box Whisker Plot

A box and whisker plot is a graphical representation that summarizes data using a five-number summary, including minimum, lower quartile, median, upper quartile, and maximum values. It effectively displays data distribution, identifies outliers, and allows for easy comparison between multiple datasets. While it has advantages such as clarity and the ability to show skewness, it can also obscure certain distribution characteristics and may confuse some audiences.

Uploaded by

tanjim09826
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Definition

A box and whisker plot is a graph that exhibits data from a five-number summary, including one
of the measures of central tendency. It does not display the distribution as accurately as a stem
and leaf plot or histogram does. But, it is principally used to show whether a distribution is
skewed or not and if there are potential unusual observations present in the data set, which are
also called outliers. Boxplots are also very useful when huge numbers of data collections are
involved or compared.
Since the centre, spread and overall range are instantly apparent, using these boxplots the
arrangements can be matched easily.
A box and whisker plot is a way of compiling a set of data outlined on an interval scale. It is also
used for descriptive data interpretation.
The box and whisker plot displays how the data is spread out. In the box and whisker diagram,
it has five pieces of information (also called a five-number summary).

Let us list the features of the boxplot:


➢ The horizontal axis covers all possible data values.
➢ The box part of a box-and-whisker plot covers the middle 50% of the values in the data
set.
➢ The whiskers each cover 25% of the data values.
1. The lower whisker covers all the data values from the minimum value up to Q1,
that is, the lowest 25% of data values.
2. The upper whisker covers all the data values between Q3 and the maximum value,
that is, the highest 25% of data values.
➢ The median sits within the box and represents the center of the data. 50% of the data
values lie above the median and 50% lie below the median.
➢ Outliers, or extreme values, in a data set are usually indicated on a box-and-whisker plot
by the “star” symbol. If there is one or more outliers in a data set, for the purpose of
drawing a box-and-whisker plot, we take the minimum and maximum to be the minimum
and maximum values of the data set excluding the outliers.
Why Do We Use Box and Whisker Plot?
Box and Whisker diagrams allow us to read the data very effectively and easily. It summarises
the data from multiple sources and displays it in a single graph. It helps us to make an effective
decision as it compares the data from different categories.

When to Use Box and Whisker Plot?


The box and whisker plot is used if we have multiple datasets from different sources which are
related to each other. For example, a test score between classrooms.

How to Draw a Box and Whisker Plot?


The box and whiskers plot can be drawn using five simple steps. To draw a box and whisker
diagram, we need to find:
Step 1: The smallest value in the data is called the minimum value.
Step 2: The value below the lower 25% of data contained, called the first quartile.
Step 3: Median value from the given set of data.
Step 4: The value above the lower 25% of data contained, called the third quartile.
Step 5: The largest value in the dataset is called maximum value.

What is Box and Whisker Plot?


Box and whisker plot is one type of graphical representation which shows the five-number
summary for the given set of data, such as minimum value, lower quartile, median, upper
quartile, maximum value.

Mention the advantages of Box Plot


The advantages of the box and whisker plot is that:
➢ We can easily identify the data location and data spread.
➢ It provides the skewness and symmetry of data
➢ Box and whisker plot show the data outliers.
➢ A boxplot gives us a very clear visual display of how the data are spread out.

What are the disadvantages of using Box and Whisker Plot?


The disadvantages of a box and whisker plot is that:
➢ It hides the multimodality and some other characteristics of distributions.
➢ It confuses the audience sometimes
➢ Mean cannot be easily located.

What is meant by an outlier in a box plot?


In the box and whisker plot, some data are located outside of the box and the whisker plot, which
is numerically different from the rest of the data in the dataset, is called outliers.
How to Draw Box and whisker plot?
➢ Arrange the data values in the ascending order
➢ Identify the minimum and maximum values
➢ Find the median of the data set
➢ Identify the upper and lower quartile
➢ Finally, construct the box and whisker plot

Example:

Solution:
Skewness:

In the figure below a symmetric distribution is represented in the histogram and in the boxplot.
The characteristics of this boxplot are that the whiskers are about the same length and the median
is located about halfway along the box.

The figure below shows a negatively skewed distribution. In such a distribution, the data peak to
the right on the histogram and trail off to the left. In corresponding fashion on the boxplot, the
bunching of the data to the right means that the left-hand whisker is longer and the right-hand
whisker is shorter; that is, the lower 25% of data are sparse and spread out whereas the top 25%
of data are bunched up. The median occurs further towards the right end of the box.

In the figure below we have a positively skewed distribution. In such a distribution, the data peak
to the left on the histogram and trail off to the right. In corresponding fashion on the boxplot, the
bunching of the data that the left-hand whisker is shorter and the right-hand whisker is longer;
that is, the upper 25% of data are sparse and spread out whereas the lower 25% of data are
bunched up. The median occurs further towards the left end of the box.
Example:

Example:
Parallel Boxplot

Example:

Practice the Outlier Problems

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