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Chapter 1: Exploring Data

Section 1.2
Displaying Quantitative Data with Graphs
The Practice of Statistics, 4th edition - For AP*
STARNES, YATES, MOORE
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Chapter 1
Exploring Data

 Introduction: Data Analysis: Making Sense of Data

 1.1 Analyzing Categorical Data
 1.2 Displaying Quantitative Data with Graphs
 1.3 Describing Quantitative Data with Numbers
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Section 1.2
Displaying Quantitative Data with Graphs

Learning Objectives
After this section, you should be able to…

 CONSTRUCT and INTERPRET dotplots, stemplots, and histograms

 DESCRIBE the shape of a distribution
 COMPARE distributions
 USE histograms wisely
 Dotplots

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 One of the simplest graphs to construct and interpret is a

Displaying Quantitative Data

dotplot. Each data value is shown as a dot above its
location on a number line.
How to Make a Dotplot
1)Draw a horizontal axis (a number line) and label it with the
variable name.
2)Scale the axis from the minimum to the maximum value.
3)Mark a dot above the location on the horizontal axis
corresponding to each data value.

Number of Goals Scored Per Game by the 2004 US Women’s Soccer Team

3 0 2 7 8 2 4 3 5 1 1 4 5 3 1 1 3
3 3 2 1 2 2 2 4 3 5 6 1 5 5 1 1 5
 Examining the Distribution of a Quantitative Variable

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

Displaying Quantitative Data

The purpose of a graph is to help us understand the data.
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After you make a graph, always ask, “What do I see?”

How to Examine the Distribution of a Quantitative Variable

In any graph, look for the overall pattern and for striking
departures from that pattern.

Describe the overall pattern of a distribution by its:

•Shape

•Center
Don’t forget your
•Spread
SOCS!

Note individual values that fall outside the overall pattern.

These departures are called outliers.
 Examine this data

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

Displaying Quantitative Data

Example,
The tablepage 28 below displays the Environmental Protection Agency’s estimates of highway
and dotplot
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gas mileage in miles per gallon (MPG) for a sample of 24 model year 2009 midsize cars.

2009 Fuel Economy Guide 2009 Fuel Economy Guide 2009 Fuel Economy Guide
MODEL MPG MODEL MPG <new>MODEL MPG <new>
1 Acura RL 922 Dodge Avenger 1630 Mercedes-Benz E350 24
2 Audi A6 Quattro 1023 Hyundai Elantra 1733 Mercury Milan 29
3 Bentley Arnage 1114 Jaguar XF 1825 Mitsubishi Galant 27 2009 Fuel Economy Guide Dot Plot
4 BMW 5281 1228 Kia Optima 1932 Nissan Maxima 26
5 Buick Lacrosse 1328 Lexus GS 350 2026 Rolls Royce Phantom 18
6 Cadillac CTS 1425 Lincolon MKZ 2128 Saturn Aura 33
7 Chevrolet Malibu 1533 Mazda 6 2229 Toyota Camry 31
8 Chrysler Sebring 1630 Mercedes-Benz E350 2324 Volkswagen Passat 29
9 Dodge Avenger 1730 Mercury Milan 2429 Volvo S80 25
14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34
MPG

Describe the shape, center, and spread of

the distribution. Are there any outliers?
 Describing Shape

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 When you describe a distribution’s shape, concentrate on

Displaying Quantitative Data

the main features. Look for rough symmetry or clear
skewness.
Definitions:
A distribution is roughly symmetric if the right and left sides of the
graph are approximately mirror images of each other.
A distribution is skewed to the right (right-skewed) if the right side of
the graph (containing the half of the observations with larger values) is
much longer than the left side.
It is skewed to the left (left-skewed) if the left side of the graph is
much longer than the right side.

Symmetric Skewed-left Skewed-right

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
DiceRolls Score Siblings
 Comparing Distributions


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Some of the most interesting statistics questions involve

Displaying Quantitative Data

comparing two or more groups.
Always discuss shape, center, spread, and possible outliers
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whenever you compare distributions of a quantitative variable.

Example, page 32
South Africa

Compare the distributions of

household size for these
two countries. Don’t forget
Place

your SOCS!
U.K

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Household_Size
 Stemplots (Stem-and-Leaf Plots)

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 Another simple graphical display for small data sets is a

Displaying Quantitative Data

stemplot. Stemplots give us a quick picture of the
distribution while including the actual numerical values.
How to Make a Stemplot

1)Separate each observation into a stem (all but the final digit)
and a leaf (the final digit).
2)Write all possible stems from the smallest to the largest in a
vertical column and draw a vertical line to the right of the
column.
3)Write each leaf in the row to the right of its stem.
4)Arrange the leaves in increasing order out from the stem.
5)Providea key that explains in context what the stems and
leaves represent.
 Stemplots (Stem-and-Leaf Plots)

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 These data represent the responses of 20 female AP

Displaying Quantitative Data

Statistics students to the question, “How many pairs of
shoes do you have?” Construct a stemplot.
50 26 26 31 57 19 24 22 23 38
13 50 13 34 23 30 49 13 15 51

1 1 93335 1 33359 Key: 4|9

represents a
2 2 2 female
3 664233 233466 student who
3 1840 3 0148 reported
4
having 49
5 4 9 4 9 pairs of
Stem 5 0701
Add leaves 5 0017
Order leaves shoes.
Add a key
s
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Splitting Stems and Back-to-Back Stemplots

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 When data values are “bunched up”, we can get a better picture of

Displaying Quantitative Data

the distribution by splitting stems.
Two distributions of the same quantitative variable can be compared
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using a back-to-back stemplot with common stems.

Females Males
50 26 26 31 57 19 24 22 23 38 14 7 6 5 12 38 8 7 10 10
13 50 13 34 23 30 49 13 15 51 10 11 4 5 22 7 5 10 35 7

Females Males
0 0 4
0 0 555677778
1 333 1 0000124
1 95 1
2 4332 2 2
2 “split stems” 66 2
3 410 3 Key: 4|9
3 8 3 58 represents a
4 4 student who
4 9 4 reported
5 100 5 having 49
5 7 5 pairs of shoes.
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Histograms

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 Quantitative variables often take many values. A graph of the

Displaying Quantitative Data

distribution may be clearer if nearby values are grouped together.
The most common graph of the distribution of one quantitative
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variable is a histogram.

How to Make a Histogram

1)Divide the range of data into classes of equal width.

2)Find the count (frequency) or percent (relative frequency) of
individuals in each class.
3)Label and scale your axes and draw the histogram. The
height of the bar equals its frequency. Adjacent bars should
touch, unless a class contains no individuals.
Example, page 35
Making a Histogram

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

Displaying Quantitative Data

The table on page 35 presents data on the percent of residents from each state who
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were born outside of the U.S.

Frequency Table 22
20
Class Count
18

Number of States
0 to <5 20 16
14
5 to <10 13 12

10 to <15 9 10
8
15 to <20 5 6

20 to <25 2 4
2
25 to <30 1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Total 50
Percent of foreign-born residents
 Using Histograms Wisely

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 Here are several cautions based on common mistakes

Displaying Quantitative Data

students make when using histograms.

Cautions
1)Don’t confuse histograms and bar graphs.
2)Don’t use counts (in a frequency table) or percents (in a
relative frequency table) as data.
3)Usepercents instead of counts on the vertical axis when
comparing distributions with different numbers of
observations.
4)Just
because a graph looks nice, it’s not necessarily a
meaningful display of data.
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Section 1.2
Displaying Quantitative Data with Graphs
Summary
In this section, we learned that…

 You can use a dotplot, stemplot, or histogram to show the distribution

of a quantitative variable.
 When examining any graph, look for an overall pattern and for notable
departures from that pattern. Describe the shape, center, spread, and
any outliers. Don’t forget your SOCS!
 Some distributions have simple shapes, such as symmetric or skewed.
The number of modes (major peaks) is another aspect of overall shape.
 When comparing distributions, be sure to discuss shape, center, spread,
and possible outliers.
 Histograms are for quantitative data, bar graphs are for categorical data.
Use relative frequency histograms when comparing data sets of different
sizes.
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Looking Ahead…

In the next Section…

We’ll learn how to describe quantitative data with
numbers.
Mean and Standard Deviation
Median and Interquartile Range
Five-number Summary and Boxplots
Identifying Outliers

We’ll also learn how to calculate numerical summaries

with technology and how to choose appropriate
measures of center and spread.