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2.10: Dot Plots

Last updated

Feb 2, 2022
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- 2.9: Line Graphs
- 2.11: Statistical Literacy

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Learning Objectives

Create and interpret dot plots
Judge whether a dot plot would be appropriate for a given data set

Dot plots can be used to display various types of information. Figure $\PageIndex{1}$ uses a dot plot to display the number of M & M's of each color found in a bag of M & M's. Each dot represents a single M & M. From the figure, you can see that there were $3$ blue M & M's, $19$ brown M & M's, etc.

Figure $\PageIndex{1}$ : A dot plot showing the number of M & M's of various colors in a bag of M & M's

The dot plot in Figure $\PageIndex{2}$ shows the number of people playing various card games on the Yahoo website on a Wednesday. Unlike Figure $\PageIndex{1}$ , the location rather than the number of dots represents the frequency.

Figure $\PageIndex{2}$ : A dot plot showing the number of people playing various card games on a Wednesday

The dot plot in Figure $\PageIndex{3}$ shows the number of people playing on a Sunday and on a Wednesday. This graph makes it easy to compare the popularity of the games separately for the two days, but does not make it easy to compare the popularity of a given game on the two days.

Figure $\PageIndex{3}$ : A dot plot showing the number of people playing various card games on a Sunday and on a Wednesday

Figure $\PageIndex{4}$ : An alternate way of showing the number of people playing various card games on a Sunday and on a Wednesday

The dot plot in Figure $\PageIndex{4}$ makes it easy to compare the days of the week for specific games while still portraying differences among games.

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