Visualizing distributions
Often, simply understanding totals, sums, and even the breakdown of part-to-whole only gives a piece of the overall picture. Most of the time, you’ll want to understand where individual items fall within a distribution of all similar items.
You might find yourself asking questions such as the following:
- How much does each customer spend at our stores and how does that compare to all other customers?
- How long do most of our patients stay in the hospital? Which patients fall outside the normal range?
- What’s the average life expectancy for components in a machine and which last more than average? Are there any components with extremely long or extremely short lives?
- How far above or below passing were students’ test scores?
These questions all have similarities. In each case, you seek an understanding of how individuals (customers, patients, components, and students) relate to the group. In each...