Striking Deviations

Striking Deviations

Introduction

A data distribution often has an overall pattern, but some values may stand noticeably apart from that pattern. These values can be described as striking deviations.

Theory

Suppose your class measures the heights of sunflower plants growing in the school garden. The heights are displayed on a dot plot.

Most of the sunflower plants are between 55 and 68 centimeters tall, so most of the dots are grouped close together.

But one sunflower plant measures 90 centimeters, making it much taller than the others....