What information does a box plot provide?

A box plot, also known as a whisker plot, serves as a valuable graphical representation that summarizes the distribution of a dataset using a five-number summary. This summary includes the minimum value, first quartile (Q1), median (Q2), third quartile (Q3), and maximum value. By displaying these key statistics, a box plot effectively conveys insights into the central tendency, variability, and symmetry of the data.

In addition to highlighting the median and quartiles, the box plot also facilitates the identification of potential outliers, which are typically represented as individual points beyond the "whiskers" of the plot. The structure of a box plot allows for easy comparison between different datasets and helps to visualize the spread and skewness in the data. This makes it particularly useful in statistics for understanding data distribution at a glance.