Dot plot

A graph for displaying the distribution of a numerical variable in which each dot represents each value of the variable.

For a whole-number variable, if a value occurs more than once, the dots are placed one above the other so that the height of the column of dots represents the frequency of that value.

Dot plots are particularly useful for comparing the distribution of a numerical variable for two or more categories of a category variable by displaying side-by-side dot plots on the same scale. Dot plots are particularly useful when the number of values to be plotted is relatively small.

Dot plots are usually drawn horizontally but may be drawn vertically.

Example

The actual weights of random samples of 50 male and 50 female chimpanzees are displayed on the dot plot below.

Alternative: dot graph, dotplot

Curriculum achievement objectives references

Statistical investigation: Levels 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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