Box Plots and Data Analysis

This lesson focuses on summarizing data distributions using box plots. It begins with an introduction to box plots and their purpose, followed by an example analyzing the time it takes for students to get to school using a dot plot. The lesson then covers dividing data into sections, calculating the median and quartiles, and creating a box plot using a five-number summary. The session concludes with practice exercises to reinforce the concepts learned.

What is the primary purpose of a box plot?

• To calculate the mean of a data set

• To display the frequency of data points

• To summarize data distribution

• To show the relationship between two variables

In the dot plot example, what is the significance of dividing the data into two groups?

• To find the mode

• To separate longer and shorter times

• To calculate the mean

• To identify outliers

How do you determine the median in a data set?

• By finding the average of all numbers

• By identifying the most frequent number

• By locating the middle value in an ordered list

• By subtracting the smallest value from the largest

What is the lower quartile in a data set?

• The smallest value

• The median of the lower half of the data

• The average of all values

• The largest value

Which five numbers are used to create a box plot?

• Sum, difference, product, quotient, remainder

• First, second, third, fourth, fifth

• Minimum, lower quartile, median, upper quartile, maximum

• Mean, mode, range, variance, standard deviation

What does the box in a box plot represent?

• The mean of the data

• The interquartile range

• The range of the data

• The entire data set

How is the interquartile range (IQR) calculated?

• By subtracting the minimum from the maximum

• By dividing the sum of all values by the number of values

• By adding the lower and upper quartiles

• By subtracting the lower quartile from the upper quartile

What is the significance of the whiskers in a box plot?

• They show the range of the middle 50% of data

• They highlight the outliers

• They represent the mean and median

• They indicate the spread of the entire data set

When creating a box plot, why is it important to order the data from least to greatest?

• To determine the range

• To calculate the mean

• To accurately find the median and quartiles

• To easily identify the mode

What should you do if two numbers are in the middle when finding the median?

• Ignore both numbers

• Choose the larger number

• Choose the smaller number

• Calculate the average of the two numbers