What is Boxplot in SPSS?
Eleanor Gray
Updated on March 27, 2026
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Correspondingly, what does a box plot tell you?
A boxplot is a standardized way of displaying the distribution of data based on a five number summary (“minimum”, first quartile (Q1), median, third quartile (Q3), and “maximum”). It can tell you about your outliers and what their values are.
Similarly, how do I find the first quartile? The first quartile, denoted by Q1 , is the median of the lower half of the data set. This means that about 25% of the numbers in the data set lie below Q1 and about 75% lie above Q1 . The third quartile, denoted by Q3 , is the median of the upper half of the data set.
Also Know, how do you do a side by side Boxplot in SPSS?
Making Side by Side Boxplots with SPSS
- Open SPSS.
- Click on the circle next to “Type in data”.
- Enter the data values for both variables in one column.
- In a column next to the column for the combined variable, type in a name which identifies each data value as coming from the first variable or the second variable.
How do you know if a Boxplot is skewed?
Skewed data show a lopsided boxplot, where the median cuts the box into two unequal pieces. If the longer part of the box is to the right (or above) the median, the data is said to be skewed right. If the longer part is to the left (or below) the median, the data is skewed left.
Related Question AnswersHow do you find quartiles?
Quartiles are the values that divide a list of numbers into quarters: Put the list of numbers in order. Then cut the list into four equal parts.In this case all the quartiles are between numbers:
- Quartile 1 (Q1) = (4+4)/2 = 4.
- Quartile 2 (Q2) = (10+11)/2 = 10.5.
- Quartile 3 (Q3) = (14+16)/2 = 15.
How do you calculate a box plot?
To create a box-and-whisker plot, we start by ordering our data (that is, putting the values) in numerical order, if they aren't ordered already. Then we find the median of our data. The median divides the data into two halves. To divide the data into quarters, we then find the medians of these two halves.How does SPSS define outliers?
On the boxplot shown here outliers are identified, note the different markers for "out" values (small circle) and "far out" or as SPSS calls them "Extreme values" (marked with a star). SPSS uses a step of 1.5×IQR (Interquartile range). Use Tukey's hinges, as boxplots are based on this definition of a quartile.How do you describe a Boxplot graph?
Definitions- Median. The median (middle quartile) marks the mid-point of the data and is shown by the line that divides the box into two parts.
- Inter-quartile range. The middle “box” represents the middle 50% of scores for the group.
- Upper quartile.
- Lower quartile.
- Whiskers.