Describing Data: Displaying and

Exploring Data
Chapter 4

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Learning Objectives
LO4-1 Construct and interpret a dot plot
LO4-2 Construct and describe a stem-and-
leaf display
LO4-3 Identify and compute measures of
position
LO4-4 Construct and analyze a box plot
LO4-5 Compute and interpret the coefficient
of skewness
LO4-6 Create and interpret a scatter diagram
LO4-7 Develop and explain a contingency
table

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Dot Plots Example
 Use dot plots to compare the two data sets
like these of the number of vehicles serviced
last month for two different dealerships

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Dot Plots Example
 Minitab provides dot plots and summary
statistics

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Stem-and-Leaf Displays
 An alternative to a frequency distribution and
histogram
 The advantages of the stem-and-leaf display
 The identity of the each observation is not
lost
 The digits themselves give a picture of the
distribution
 The cumulative
STEM-AND-LEAF frequencies
DISPLAY are also
A statistical technique to shown
present a set of data. Each numerical value is divided into
two parts. The leading digit becomes the stem and the
trailing digit the leaf. The stems are located along the
vertical axis, and the leaf values are stacked against each
other along the horizontal axis.

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Stem-and-Leaf Display Example

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Measures of Position
 Measures of location also describes the shape of
the distribution and can be expressed as
percentiles

 Quartiles divide a set of observations into four

equal parts
 The interquartile range is the difference between
the third quartile and the first quartile
 Deciles divide a set of observations into 10 equal
parts
 Percentiles divide a set of observations into 100
equal parts
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Measures of Position Example
 Morgan Stanley is an investment company
with offices located throughout the United
States. Listed below are the commissions
earned last month by a sample of 15 brokers.
$2,03 $1,75 $1,72 $1,63 $2,09 $2,04 $2,20 $1,78 $2,28
8 8 1 7 7 7 5 7 7
1,940 2,311 2,054 2,406 1,471 1,460

 First, sort the data from smallest to largest

$1,46 $1,47 $1,63 $1,72 $1,75 $1,78 $1,94 $2,03
0 1 7 1 8 7 0 8
2,047 2,054 2,097 2,205 2,287 2,311 2,406

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Measures of Position Example
 Next, find the median
 L50 = (15+1)*50/100 = 8
 So the median is $2,038, the value at position
8

$1,46 $1,47 $1,63 $1,72 $1,75 $1,78 $1,94 $2,03

0 1 7 1 8 7 0 8
2,047 2,054 2,097 2,205 2,287 2,311 2,406

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Box Plots
 A box plot is a graphical display using
quartiles
 A box plot is based on five statistics:
 Minimum value
 1st quartile
 Median
 3rd quartile
 Maximum value
 The interquartile range is Q3 – Q1
 Outliers are values that are inconsistent with
the rest of the data and are identified with
asterisksCopyright
4-10 in box plots
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Box Plot Example
 Alexander’s Pizza offers free delivery of its
pizza within 15 miles. How long does a typical
delivery take? Within what range will most
deliveries be completed?
 Using a sample of 20 deliveries, Alexander
determined the following:
 Minimum value = 13 minutes
 Q1 = 15 minutes
 Median = 18 minutes
 Q3 = 22 minutes
 Maximum value = 30 minutes
 Develop a box plot for delivery times
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Box Plot Example Continued
 Begin by drawing a number line using an
appropriate scale
 Next, draw a box that begins at Q1 (15
minutes) and ends at Q3 (22 minutes)
 Draw a vertical line at the median (18
minutes)
 Extend a horizontal line out from Q3 to the
maximum value (30 minutes) and out from Q1
to the minimum value (13 minutes)

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Common Shapes of Data

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Skewness
 The coefficient of skewness is a measure of
the symmetry of a distribution
 Two formulas for coefficient of skewness

 The coefficient of skewness can range from -3

to +3
 A value near -3 indicates considerable
negative skewness
 A value of 1.63 indicates moderate positive
skewness
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Skewness Example
 Following are the earnings per share for a
sample of 15 software companies for the
year 2016. The earnings per share are
arranged from smallest to largest.

 Begin by finding the mean, median, and

standard deviation. Find the coefficient of
skewness.

 What do you conclude about the shape of

the distribution?
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Skewness Example
Step 1 : Compute the Mean

X 
X 
$74.26
$4.95
n 15

Step 2 : Compute the Standard Deviation

s
 X X  
2


($0.09  $4.95)2  ...  ($16.40  $4.95)2 )
$5.22
n 1 15  1

Step 3 : Find the Median

The middle value in the set of data, arranged from smallest to largest is 3.18

Step 4 : Compute the Skewness

3( X  Median ) 3($4.95  $3.18)
sk   1.017
s $5.22

 What do you conclude about the shape of the

distribution?
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Describing the Relationship Between Two
Variables
 A scatter diagram is a graphical tool to portray
the relationship between two variables or
bivariate data
 Both variables are measured with interval or
ratio level scale
 If the scatter of points moves from the lower
left to the upper right, the variables under
consideration are directly or positively related
 If the scatter of points moves from the upper
left to the lower right, the variables are
inversely or negatively related

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Scatter Diagrams

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Contingency Tables
 A contingency table is used to classify nominal
scale observations according to two
characteristics
CONTINGENCY TABLE A table used to classify
observations according to two identifiable characteristics.

 It is a cross-tabulation that simultaneously

summarizes two variables of interest
 Both variables need only be nominal or ordinal

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Contingency Table Example
 Applewood Auto Group’s profit comparison

 90 of the 180 cars sold had a profit above the

median and half below. This meets the definition
of median.
 The percentage of profits above the median are
Kane 48%, Olean 50%, Sheffield 42% , and
Tionesta 60%.
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