The Shape of the qData

Measures of centre give a typical value for a set of data. Measures of spread tell us how the data differ from each other. To complete the picture of a quantitative variable we need to know the shape of the distribution of its values. Is there symmetry around a common value? Are large values more common than small values? Is there none, or more than one, peak?

Stream the video without the embedded quiz questions by clicking on the video link below. Closed captions are available.

Notes on the video: The Shape of the Data

A point to consider for this video:

For small data sets, a dot plot is an alternative to a histogram. Rather than grouping the data in bins, a dot plot shows a dot for each data value, over a horizontal axis spanning the range of the data. Below are a histogram and a dot plot for the life expectancy (years) of 197 countries. Do the features of the shape appear similar in the two plots?