Stem and Leaf plots were giving me a headache today in class. I'm still not quite sure how the plot for the "island" problem works, but here's an explaination I found online that helped me grasp the concept a little better.
What Are They Used For?They are usually used when there are large amounts of numbers to analyze. Series of scores on sports teams, series of temperatures or rainfall over a period of time, series of classroom test scores are examples of when Stem and Leaf Plots could be used.
What Does a Stem and Leaf Look Like?Example:
Test Scores Out Of 100
Stem Leaf
9 2 2 6 8
8 3 5
7 2 4 6 8 8 9
6 1 4 4 7 8
5 0 0 2 8 8
What does this Stem and Leaf Plot Show?The Stem shows the 'tens' and the leaf. At a glance, one can see that 4 students got a mark in the 90's on their test out of 100. Two students received the same mark of 92. No marks were received below 50. No mark of 100 was received. When you count the total amount of leaves, you know how many students took the test. The information is nicely organized when a Stem and Leaf Plot is used. Stem and Leaf Plots provide an 'at a glance' tool for specific information in large sets of data, otherwise one would have a long list of marks to sift through and analyze.
I also posted this on the notes for JV Ch 2, but I thought that more people might benefit from it if I posted it here as well.
Rebecca
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
this is helpful. thank you!
my sense is that stem-and-leaf plots are a bit of a holdover from back-in-the-day when plots and diagrams had to be done by hand. they are a quick and (relatively) easy way to make a sideways histogram that makes use of the numbers themselves to build up the "rectangles" which compose the diagram.
they're pretty straightforward when the data are simple and not copious. i have to admit, though, that the islands example stumped me at first glance too. i'll give it a bit more study and present my interpretation in class tomorrow.
Thanks, Mike!
I appreciate you going back over it today!
Cheers,
Rebecca
Hey Rebecca,
That's a really great explanation of stem and leaf plots. Thanks for researching and sharing this!
Cheers,
Nicole
Post a Comment