Box Plots

A box plot, or box-and-whisker plot, is a graphical representation of a dataset that displays its minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile, and maximum.

The median is the middle value of a dataset when it is ordered from least to greatest, dividing the dataset into two equal halves.

The range is found by subtracting the minimum value from the maximum value in the dataset.

Quartiles are values that divide a dataset into four equal parts: the first quartile (Q1) is the median of the lower half, the second quartile (Q2) is the median, and the third quartile (Q3) is the median of the upper half.

The whiskers extend from the box to the smallest and largest values that are not outliers, showing the spread of the data.

Outliers are typically represented as individual points that fall outside the range defined by 1.5 times the interquartile range (IQR) above Q3 and below Q1.

The interquartile range (IQR) is the difference between the third quartile (Q3) and the first quartile (Q1), representing the middle 50% of the data.

The median is represented by a line inside the box of the box plot, indicating the central tendency of the data.

The box represents the interquartile range (IQR), showing where the central 50% of the data lies.

A longer whisker on one side indicates a greater spread of data on that side, suggesting more variability in the values.