Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 6-2. A histogram of players' RBI during the 2012 season
Box Plots
Every data set has a mean, a median, a maximum (max), and a minimum (min), among a
variety of other statistics. A helpful way to visualize these statistics and to get a sense of the
distribution of multiple groups in a data set is with a box plot.
Figure 6-2
shows a diagram of
this type of statistical chart, invented by John Tukey in the 1970s.
We can create a box plot in Tableau 8.1 and above very quickly and easily using the new
box-and-whisker plot chart type in the Show Me panel. If we Ctrl-click the
Player
and
Pos
(for “Position”) Dimensions, and the
RBI
Measure, and then open the Show Me panel and se-
lect
box-and-whisker plot
, we get the chart shown in
Figure 6-4
.
It's possible to create a box-and-whisker plot from scratch, and doing so will help reinforce
the power of reference lines and bands like we used in the previous chapter when we created
bullet graphs.
