Box Plot
Is a graphic summary of the pattern of variation in a set of data.
Useful when working small set of data or when comparing many different
distributions.
Introduced by J.W.Tukey in 1977.
Elements of Box Plot :
Lowest value
First quartile : The point below which 25% of the data lie.
Median : The middle value in the set of data.
Third quartile : The point below which 75% of the data lie.
Highest value
Box Plot
Construction : Response time for repair of contractors A & B
A :243, 345, 207, 268, 272, 290, 45, 251, 226 and 183
B :192, 251, 156, 102, 228, 215, 125, 145, 279 and 188
Group the data from the smallest to largest value
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
A 45 183 207 226 243 251 268 272 290 345
B 102 125 145 156 188 192 215 228 251 279
Depth of median d(M) = (n+1)/2 = (10 +1)/2 = 5.5(ie median is between 5 th & 6th
values in the ordered data).
Median of A = 5th value +0.5(6th value – 5th value)
243 +0.5(251-243) = 247 minutes
Box Plot
Median of B = 5th value +0.5(6th value – 5th value)
188 +0.5(192-188) = 190 minutes
Depth of First Quartile d(Q1) = [(1)n +2]/4 = (10 +2)/4=3
Depth of Third Quartile d(Q3) = [(3)n +2]/4=(30 +2)/4=8
First quartile of A = 207 min. Lowest value of A = 45 min.
Third quartile of A = 272 min. Highest value of A = 345 min.
First quartile of B = 145 min. Lowest value of B = 102 min.
Third quartile of B =228 min. Highest value of B = 279 min.
Box Plot
400
Highest
300
Q3
Highest
Median
Q3
200 Q1
Median
Q1
100
Lowest
Lowest