COMPARING DOT PLOTS VISUALLY

We can compare dot plots visually using various characteristics, such as center, spread, and shape.

Let us understand how dot plots can be compared visually through the following examples.   

Example 1 :

The dot plots show the heights of 15 high school basketball players and the heights of 15 high school softball players.

1.  Visually compare the shapes of the dot plots.

Softball : All the data is 5’6” or less.

Basketball : Most of the data is 5’8” or greater.

As a group, the softball players are shorter than the basketball players.

2.  Visually compare the centers of the dot plots.

Softball : The data is centered around 5’4”.

Basketball : The data is centered around 5’8”.

This means that the most common height for the softball players is 5 feet 4 inches, and for the basketball players 5 feet 8 inches.

3.  Visually compare the spreads of the dot plots.

Softball : The spread is from 4’11” to 5’6”.

Basketball : The spread is from 5’2” to 6’0”.

There is a greater spread in heights for the basketball players.

4.  Visually compare the dot plot of heights of field hockey players to the dot plots for softball and basketball players.

Shape :

Dot plots for field hockey players and softball players have a similar spread.

Center :

Center of the field hockey dot plot is less than the center for softball or basketball players.

Spread :

Dot plots for field hockey players and softball players have a similar spread.

Example 2 :

The dot plots show the shoe sizes of two different groups of people.

1.  Visually compare the shapes of the dot plots.

Group A : clustered to the left of size 9 ;

Group B : clustered to the right of size 9

2.  Visually compare the medians of the dot plots.

Group A : median at size 8 ;

Group B : median at size 9.5

3.  Visually compare the ranges of the dot plots (with and without the outliers).

Group A : range with outlier = 6.5, without outlier = 2.5;

Group B : range = 3

4.  Provide a possible explanation for the results of the dot plots.

Group A could be children and Group B could be adults.

Kindly mail your feedback to v4formath@gmail.com

We always appreciate your feedback.