Minimum

𝑄1
Sec 2.9 𝑄2 = 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛
5 Number 𝑄3
Summary Maximum

and
Visual
Box plot representation
The five number summary provides a range of information
about your data set…

Also range
 𝑄1 = 170.5 𝑄2 = 𝑚𝑒 = 179.5
Min=143

143, 162, 170, 171, 178, 179, 180, 183,

Example
184, 184, 188, 190

𝑄3 = 184 Max=190
 Values that are too big/small when
Outliers
compared to the other values

143, 162, 170, 171, 178, 179, 180, 183, 184, 184, 188, 190

𝑄1 = 170.5 𝑄3 = 184 𝐼𝑄𝑅 = 13,5

Lower cut-off Upper cut-off

𝑄∗ = 𝑄1 − 1.5 𝐼𝑄𝑅 𝑄 ∗∗ = 𝑄3 + 1.5 𝐼𝑄𝑅

= 170.5 − (1.5)(13.5) = 184 + (1.5)(13.5)

= 150.25 143 is smaller so = 204.25

it is an outlier
Example cont. 143, 162, 170, 171, 178, 179,
180, 183, 184, 184, 188, 190

143 𝑄2 = 179.5
Outlier 𝑄1 = 170.5 𝑄3 = 184

𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 190
Extend whisker to smallest
162
value that is not an outlier.
 Compare
Example At a glance, does it look like there is any pattern?
boxplots

It looks like people seem to

sleep longer on Friday and
Saturday nights i.e. the nights
when most people don’t have
work/school the next day.
Perhaps this is showing that
people “sleep in”.

Note: No details about the

experiment have been given.
Were an equal number of people
used on each day? If so, were they
the same people? The variation in
the number of hours slept could
be due to several factors. The
experiment would need to be
designed in particular ways to get
the information of interest.
Somebody didn’t go to bed on Friday night.
 You are in a rush but need to buy groceries. You have 2 shops to
Example choose from. The box plots below show the “waiting time till
service” for Shop-1 and Shop-2.
Based on this information, which shop should you go to?

At least half the people at Shop-1 waited less time than all the people at Shop-2.
Note: The
conditions
under which the
data was
gathered are Shop-1
not given.
Time of day, the
date of the
month and the
location of the
shop can all Shop-2
affect the
waiting times.

75% of the people at Shop-2 waited longer than at least 75% of people at Shop-1.
Box Plot Excel puts a cross at the position of the mean.

Step 1, Step 2, Step 3

As for all charts

Step 4:
Select ‘All Charts’

Step 5:
Select ‘Box and Whisker’
Remove 𝑥-axis title.