Definition
Dot plot
A dot plot shows one mark for each data value, stacked above an evenly spaced number line.
View exact chart data
| Score | Games |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 0 |
| 5 | 1 |
What it means
Read across to find the value, then count up its stack to see how often it occurred. Every dot stands for one result. The number-line gaps stay equal even where no dot appears.
Remember it
Where the dot sits tells the value; how high the stack grows tells how often.
Example
Seven games had 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, and 5 goals. Put one dot above 1, two above 2, three above 3, none above 4, and one above 5.
Watch for
Bars above pet names make a category chart, not a dot plot, because the horizontal positions are labels rather than values on a numerical scale.
Common mix-up
An empty value does not let you squeeze the scale. Equal number steps still need equal spacing.
Exact meaning
A dot plot displays numerical data by placing one mark for every observation at its position on a number-line scale. Marks for repeated values are stacked.