BOX PLOTS:

Boxplots are helpful visual summaries of a dataset. They’re composed of boxes, which show
the quartiles, and whiskers, which show the lowest and highest observations.

To make a boxplot, you first need to calculate the five-number summary:

1. The minimum
o This is the lowest observation. If you order the numbers in your dataset from
lowest to highest, the minimum is the first number. The minimum is
sometimes called the zeroth quantile.
2. The first quartile
3. The second quartile
4. The third quartile
5. The maximum
o This is the highest observation. If you order the numbers in your dataset from
lowest to highest, the maximum is the last number. The maximum is
sometimes called the fourth quantile.

With these five numbers, you can draw a boxplot:

EXAMPLE:

In your study of language development in young children, the 14 participants were the
following ages (in years):

1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6

To create a boxplot, the first step is to calculate the five-number summary:

1. The minimum: 1 year old

2. The first quartile: 2 years old
3. The second quartile: 3 years old
4. The third quartile: 5 years old
5. The maximum: 6 years old
These numbers determine the position of the box and whiskers on a number line: