The five-number summary

Q
This summary gives the median 2 , the lower quartile
Q1 , the upper quartile Q3 ,
the minimum value and the maximum value.

Box-and-whisker plot. (Use Graph Paper to draw)

 The box and whisker plot, illustrates the dispersion, or spread of the distribution. It
uses the highest and lowest values of the data, the quartiles (
Q1 and Q3 ) and the
median ( 2 ).
Q
 Box plots are useful for comparing two or more sets of data like that shown below for
heights of boys and girls in a class.

Example of a box-and-whisker plot

Advantage Disadvantage
 They give the five number summary  We can’t find the mean and standard
directly deviation of a data.
 Useful to compare two or more set of data. There is no indication of the number data.
Skewness

Distribution is said to be almost symmetrical.

Q3 −Q2≈Q2 −Q1
Distribution is said to have positive skew.

Q3 −Q 2 >Q2 −Q 1

Distribution is said to have negative skew.

Q3 −Q 2 <Q2 −Q 1
Example (Raw Data)
The data below give the number of fish caught each day over a period of 11 days by an
angler. Give a five-number-summary of the data. Construct a box-and-whisker plot and
describe any skewness of the data.
4, 4, 5, 6, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 10, 12

Min Q1 Q2 Q3 Max

4 5.5 8 9 12

Distribution is said to have negative skew.

Question 1
Gemma recorded the heights in cm of girls in the same class and constructed a box plot
from the data. The box plots for both boys and girls are shown below. Use the box plots to
choose some correct statements comparing heights of boys and girls in the class. Justify
your answers.

Statement True or False

The boys are taller on average
The girls are taller on average
The girls show less variability in height
The boys show less variability in height.
The shortest person is a girl.
The tallest person is a boy
Example (Group Data)
Minutes Late 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60
Frequency 5 8 22 12 8 5