Histograms

Histograms have some similar characteristics as other graphical representations ...

• Shape: Left skewed, right skewed, symmetric, unimodal, bimodal, gaps ?

• Outlier(s): Are there value(s) that are far apart of all other data?

• Center: Where is most of the data? (usually use mean to describe center of histograms)

• Spread: Is the distribution bunched up or spread out? (usually standard deviation to describe spread in histograms)

Mean & Standard Deviation

Practice: Describe the below histogram using SOCS

(1) Do we know the original data?(2) How do we determine the width of the

vertical bars?

Is this a histogram? Why or why not?

What can we say about this distribution?

How can we best describe this data set?

Describe this histogram and suggest how it could be better?

Key components & observations for histograms:

• Numerical data• SOCS• Labeled (context)• Evenly scaled on axes• All vertical bars same width

Comparing Box Plots & Histograms

Histogram vs. Box Plot

Histogram vs. Box Plot

Histogram vs. Box Plot

Discussion/Exit Card:

• Which graphical representation is better: the box plot or the histogram?