A Box Plot is one of the best-suited charts to use if your goal is to display high-level attributes of your data, such as quartile, mean, median, skewness, and standard deviation.
More so, the chart is incredibly easy to read (as you shall witness later).
So how can you access the chart?
Google Sheets seem to be the obvious choice because it’s free to access. However, the cloud-hosted spreadsheet application does not natively support Box Plots.
Think beyond Google Sheets if you intend to display data attributes, such as mean, outliers, and quartiles in your data. We’re not advocating you do away with Google Sheets.
The tested and proven option is downloading and installing a particular add-on (which we’ll talk about later) into your Google Sheets to access ready-to-go Box Plot Charts.
A Box Plot is a visualization design that uses box plots to display insights into data.
The chart simplifies bulky and complex data sets into quartiles and averages. Also, you can use the chart to pinpoint outliers in your data. The Box Plot segments key variables in quarters or (quartiles).
The chart displays your data’s shape, variability, and center (or median) information. Also, you can leverage the chart to determine the skewness of data points.
Essentially, a Box and Whisker Chart shows the following points of data:
Keep reading because we’ll cover how to read a Box Plot chart in the coming section.
The Box Plot Chart is an exploratory graphic, which John W. Tukey first created to display the distribution of a dataset.
To interpret the chart, you’ve got to know its elements and their meaning. Check the elements below:
Three out of the five summary numbers are displayed by default (median, minimum number, and maximum number). You have an option to display the other two summary numbers (upper and lower quartiles).
Besides the five summary numbers, the visualization displays the following:
Let’s check out the elements in detail.
Keep reading because we’ll address the following question in the coming sections: how do you calculate a Box Plot?
Use the Box and Whisker Chart in the following scenarios:
How to read a Box Plot should never consume your valuable time. Keep reading to discover more.
Box and Whisker Plot show the distribution of key data points along a number line.
You can generate the chart by ordering a data set to find the median, upper and lower quartiles, and upper and lower extremes. To calculate values, such as mean, follow the steps below:
Now that we’ve just addressed the following question: how do you calculate a Box Plot? Let’s head to the advantages and benefits you can expect from the chart.
Check out the advantages of the chart below:
As we said, how to read a Box Plot should never be overwhelming. Keep reading to discover more.
To get reliable insights, use the visualization design for the following:
Box Plots are best-suited for comparing distributions between key groups in data. The charts are compact in design to help you display a ton of information without clutter.
If the groups displayed in a Box Plot lack an inherent order, arrange them to highlight patterns and trends using the median.
Google Sheets is one of the most-used visualization tools among businesses and professionals worldwide.
However, this cloud-hosted spreadsheet tool comes with very basic Box and Whisker Charts, which require a lot of extra work in editing.
We’re not recommending you do away with the spreadsheet app.
You can turn Google Sheets into a reliable Box and Whisker Plot generator loaded with ready-made and visually stunning charts by installing third-party add-ons, such as ChartExpo.
Why ChartExpo?
ChartExpo is an add-on for Google Sheets you can easily install to create beautiful visualizations.
With a large number of advanced visualizations, ChartExpo turns your complex, raw data into compelling, easy-to-digest, visual renderings that tell the story of your data.
The Box and Whisker Plot generator produces simple and clear visualization designs with just a few clicks. Yes, ChartExpo generates Box and Whisker Charts that are amazingly easy to interpret, even for non-technical audiences.
This section will use the Box and Whisker Plot example to display insights into the table below.
You don’t want to miss this.
Category | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Appetizer | 873 | 262 | 548 |
Mains | 632 | 981 | 790 |
Desserts | 672 | 939 | 198 |
Drinks | 716 | 901 | 185 |
Appetizer | 354 | 598 | 119 |
Mains | 419 | 639 | 597 |
Desserts | 593 | 619 | 928 |
Drinks | 560 | 282 | 399 |
Appetizer | 898 | 1034 | 729 |
Mains | 179 | 336 | 735 |
Desserts | 805 | 150 | 109 |
Drinks | 683 | 501 | 793 |
Appetizer | 1366 | 425 | 525 |
Mains | 1291 | 809 | 539 |
Desserts | 1129 | 425 | 774 |
Drinks | 201 | 411 | 228 |
Install the ChartExpo add-on for Google Sheets using this link and then follow the simple and easy steps below.
To add additional details, such as title in your chart, follow the steps below:
As we said, how to read a Box Plot should never stress you. Use ChartExpo to access ready-made charts for your data stories.
A Box and Whisker Chart shows the data distribution into quartiles highlighting the mean and outliers. The boxes may have lines extending vertically called “whiskers.” These lines indicate variability outside the upper and lower quartiles.
Other points outside those lines or whiskers are considered outliers.
Use a Box and Whisker Chart if you’ve got two or more key variables in your data. Besides, the chart is amazingly easy to read and interpret, making it ideal for data storytelling.
Also, use the visualization design if your goal is to display comparison insights into your data.
A Box Plot is a visualization design that uses box plots to display insights into data. The chart simplifies bulky and complex data sets into quartiles and averages.
The chart goes by multiple names, namely:
As we said, a Box Plot is one of the best-suited charts to use if your goal is to display high-level attributes of your data, such as quartile, mean, median, skewness, and standard deviation.
More so, the chart is incredibly easy to read (as you shall see later).
So how can you generate the visualization design?
Google Sheets seem to be the obvious choice because it’s free to access. However, the cloud-hosted spreadsheet application does not natively support Box Plots.
Think beyond the spreadsheet application if you intend to display attributes, such as mean, outliers, and quartiles in your data.
What’s the solution?
We recommend installing third-party apps, such as ChartExpo, into your Google Sheets to access ready-made Box Plots.
ChartExpo is an add-on you can easily download and install in your Google Sheets app. Besides, this tool comes loaded with insightful and easy-to-interpret Box Plots. You don’t need programming or coding skills to visualize your data using ChartExpo.
How to read Box Plot should never be a stumbling block to you. Use ChartExpo to generate visually stunning, insightful, clear, and ready-to-go visualization designs.
Sign up for a 7-day free trial today to access easy-to-interpret and ready-made Box Plots for your data stories.