Boxplots

A boxplot shows the five statistics (minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile, and maximum). It is useful for displaying the distribution of a scale variable and pinpointing outliers. You can create a 2-D boxplot that is summarized for each category in a categorical variable, or you can create a 1-D boxplot that is summarized for all cases in the data.

How to create a simple 2-D boxplot

1. In the Chart Builder, click the Gallery tab and select Boxplot in the Choose From list.
2. Drag the Simple 2-D Boxplot icon onto the canvas.
3. Drag a categorical (nominal or ordinal) variable to the x-axis drop zone.
4. Drag a scale variable to the y-axis drop zone.

Note: The "statistic" for a dot plot is Boxplot. You cannot change this.

How to create a simple 1-D boxplot

1. In the Chart Builder, click the Gallery tab and select Boxplot in the Choose From list.
2. Drag the Simple 1-D Boxplot icon onto the canvas.
3. Drag a scale variable to the x-axis drop zone.

Note: The "statistic" for a dot plot is Boxplot. You cannot change this.

Additional features

Point ID. By default, the outliers in the boxplot are labeled with the case number. To use a different variable, click the Groups/Point ID tab and select Point ID Label. This action adds a new drop zone to the canvas. Drag the variable you want to use for labeling to the new drop zone.

Clustering. Clustering adds dimensionality within the chart. Clustering splits each box into multiple boxes. For more information about specifying clustering, see Adding and editing grouping variables . The gallery also provides options for these charts.

Paneling. Paneling creates a table of charts, with a cell for each category in the paneling variable. See the topic Adding Paneling Variables for more information.