Contents Explore with Excel: Boxplots

What is a boxplot?
The interquartile
The fences
Outliers
The whiskers
The finished boxplot
Boxplots and distributions
Create your own boxplot Contents
This instructional workbook explores the concept of the boxplot,
an important tool of descriptive statistics.

To learn more about boxplots, click the Table of Contents entries

in the column to the right, or click the arrows above to move from
one page to another.

This workbook is best viewed at 800x600 screen resolution.

Contents Explore with Excel: Boxplots
What is a boxplot?
The interquartile
The fences
Outliers
The whiskers
The finished boxplot
Boxplots and distributions
Create your own boxplot What is a Boxplot?
A boxplot is a plot which displays several of the
descriptive statistics in one compact image. Dev
John Tukey in his influential 1977 book,
Exploratory Data Analysis, the boxplot displays
following descriptive statistics and features:

1. The first quartile, median, third quartile

and interquartile range.
2. The minimum and maximum values.
3. Moderate and extreme outliers

The boxplot also gives a good visual

representation of the variability of the data, and
 is a Boxplot?
ot is a plot which displays several of the important
ve statistics in one compact image. Developed by
key in his influential 1977 book,
tory Data Analysis, the boxplot displays
g descriptive statistics and features:

e first quartile, median, third quartile

d interquartile range.
e minimum and maximum values.
oderate and extreme outliers

plot also gives a good visual

tation of the variability of the data, and the skewness
Contents Explore with Excel: Boxplots
What is a boxplot?
The interquartile
The fences
Outliers
The whiskers
The finished boxplot
Boxplots and distributions
Create your own boxplot The interquartile
The first component of the boxplot is the interquartile range
part of the distribution ranging from the first quartile to the third
quartile. To create this section, draw a box extending from the first
to the third quartile. Within this box, draw a horizontal line at the
location of the median (the second quartile.)

3rd quartile
Contents Explore with Excel: Boxplots
What is a boxplot?
The interquartile
The fences
Outliers
The whiskers
The finished boxplot
Boxplots and distributions
Create your own boxplot The fences
From the interquartile, calculate the location of the inner fences
and the outer fences. The inner fences are located at the third
quartile + 1.5 x IQR, and the first quartile – 1.5 x IQR. The
fences are located at the third quartile + 3 x IQR, and the first
quartile – 3 x IQR.
Contents Explore with Excel: Boxplots
What is a boxplot?
The interquartile
The fences
Outliers
The whiskers
The finished boxplot
Boxplots and distributions
Create your own boxplot Outliers
Any values that lie between the inner and outer fences are
moderate outliers and are shown with the the symbol,
values that lie beyond the outer fences are extreme outliers
are shown with the symbol, o.
Contents Explore with Excel: Boxplots
What is a boxplot?
The interquartile
The fences
Outliers
The whiskers
The finished boxplot
Boxplots and distributions
Create your own boxplot The whiskers
Vertical lines called whiskers, are drawn from the box to highest
and lowest values in the distribution that lie within the inner fence.
These are the highest and lowest values in the distribution, which
are not considered outliers.
Contents Explore with Excel: Boxplots
What is a boxplot?
The interquartile
The fences
Outliers
The whiskers
The finished boxplot
Boxplots and distributions
Create your own boxplot The finished boxplot
Normally boxplots are not shown with lines for the inner and outer
fences. A finished boxplot might look as shown below. You can
see at a glance that the data contains three outliers (one of them an
extreme outlier) and the data is skewed.
Contents Explore with Excel: Boxplots
What is a boxplot?
The interquartile
The fences
Outliers
The whiskers
The finished boxplot
Boxplots and distributions
Create your own boxplot Boxplots and distributions
A boxplot offers a unique view of your data. Below are some
examples of boxplots for different types of distributions. Try
exploring boxplots with your own data sets.
Contents Explore with Excel: Boxplots
What is a boxplot? Data
The interquartile Create your own boxplot
The fences To create your own boxplot, enter sample values in the green data cells. Try changing
Outliers the values to see how this affects the boxplot's appearance. The table displays
The whiskers different statistics to assist you in interpreting your data and the boxplot.
The finished boxplot
Boxplots and distributions
Create your own boxplot Boxplot

12

10

0
alues in the green data cells. Try changing
ot's appearance. The table displays
ng your data and the boxplot.
ing

Boxplot values
Statistic Value
Outer upper fence
Inner upper fence
Upper whisker
Maximum
Third quartile
Median
First quartile
Minimum
Lower whisker
Inner lower fence
Outer lower fence
Interquartile range