Statistics - Organizing and Interpreting Data

Stem-and-Leaf Plot

Quantitative data such as age, height, and scores are referred to as variables.

Here is the data for the math scores of students in Noel’s class:



To better understand the distribution of the scores, follow these steps to organize the data:
  1. Separate the variable into a stem (tens digit) and a leaf (units digit).
  2. Draw a vertical line and list the stems in increasing order to the left of the line.
  3. To the right of the line, arrange the leaves corresponding to each stem in ascending order, leaving equal spaces between them. Repeat each leaf as many times as it appears in the data.
The resulting diagram is called a stem-and-leaf plot.

When creating a stem-and-leaf plot, it is common to divide the variable into two parts based on place value, using the higher place as the stem and the remaining digits as the leaf.