Stem and Leaf Plot

Stem and Leaf Plot- An organized and systematic way of plotting large amounts of numerical data. Numbers are categorized based on leading numbers (stem), with remaining numbers placed horizontally next to these (leaf). The mean and median of the data set can usually be quickly identified in this way. This stem and leaf plot displays a data set of arm length in centimeters. The "stem" members represent the tens, and the "leaves" represent the ones' place. (http://myplace.frontier.com/~paulgriffith2/mathmodels/datacenters.html).

Box Plot

Box Plot- Also known as a box and whisker diagram. Provides a simple graphical summary of a data set, showing a measure of central location (median), average, and measures of dispersion (upper and lower quartiles). These are especially useful for comparing two or more data sets. Outlying data is indicated by points. This is a box plot of hits for a particular website in early 1999 based on days of the week. It can be noted that the average number of hits per day stayed consistently between 1,000 and 1,500 Monday through Friday, but dropped significantly on Saturday and Sunday (http://support.sas.com/rnd/app/da/new/daunivariate.html).

Histogram

Histogram- Displays tabulated frequency in a bar graph format. This simple histogram maps the frequency of high school students who get "x" hours of sleep per night. As it can be seen, the greatest frequency of high school students get 7 hours of sleep per night, while the lowest frequency of students get 5 hours Most high school students get more sleep rather than less (http://openhighschoolcourses.org/mod/book/view.php?id=206&chapterid=352).

Parallel Coordinate Graph

Parallel Coordinate Graph- A useful geovisualization tool for plotting and expressing relationships among many variables for a given subject of interest. Each variable is graphed on a vertical axis, and a data element is plotted a a connected set of points, one on each axis. This is a parallel coordinate graph describing car models released from 1970 to 1982, and contains their mileage (MPG), number of cylinders, horsepower, weight, and year they were introduced. It can be seen that generally, and inverse relationship exists between miles per gallon and number of cylinders. The more cylinders a car sports, the lower the mpg. A weaker relationship exists between number of cylinders and horsepower, though on the whole a car with fewer cylinders will fall on the lower end of the horsepower spectrum, and vise versa (http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/rst/Sect16/Sect16_3.html).

Triangular Plot

Triangular Plot- A triangular figure plot useful discussing items of interest in the context of several different variables. Subjects are spatially placed on the graph according to their characteristics, and items that are most similar to each other are found to be closer together. This is a triangular plot of how a number of academic pursuits can be categorized. For example, politics involves a great deal of decision making, integration, and interpretation, and is more closely related to philosophy or religion than mathematics (http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/rst/Sect16/Sect16_3.html).

Windrose

Windrose- A circular plot displaying frequencies of different wind directions and speeds.This is a windrose of wind patterns for an undisclosed location in North Carolina from July 2006 to December 2008. For example, the wind blew to the south 6.4% of the time. In total, the highest wind speeds recorded during this time, winds 10 to 20 mph, occurred only 4% of the time (http://alternativeenergyatunc.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/wind-roses/).

Climograph

Climograph- A graphic representation of the relation between temperature and precipitation plotted over monthly intervals. In this instance, precipitation levels (inches) are plotted on the left vertical axis, represented by the blue bars, and temperature (degrees Fahrenheit) is plotted on the right vertical axis, represented by the red line. This climograph of the average monthly temperature and precipitation measurements from 1930 to 2006 for the Lower Colorado River Planning Area shows the highest temperatures and precipitation occurring on in the month of August (http://www.census.gov/2010census/).