Dot Plot - Graph, Types, Examples - Cuemath

Dot Plot

A dot plot is used to encode data in a dot or small circle. The dot plot is shown on a number line that displays the distribution of numerical variables where a value is defined by each dot.

1.	What is Dot Plot?
2.	Types of Dot Plot
3.	How to Make a Dot Plot?
4.	FAQs on Dot Plot

What is Dot Plot?

A dot plot is used to represent any data in the form of dots or small circles. It is similar to a simplified histogram or a bar graph as the height of the bar formed with dots represents the numerical value of each variable. Dot plots are used to represent small amounts of data. For example, a dot plot can be used to collect the vaccination report of newborns in an area, which is represented in the following table.

Colony	A	B	C	D
Number of babies vaccinated	7	3	5	1

Now let's see the number of newborn babies who got a vaccine in each colony. Colony A has a total of 7 dots, which means that seven babies have been vaccinated. Similarly, colony B has three babies, colony C has five babies, and colony D has one baby who has been vaccinated. The other way to represent it through a dot plot is given below:

Types of Dot Plot

There are two types of dot plot: Wilkinson dot plot and Cleveland dot plot.

Wilkinson Dot Plot

The Wilkinson dot plot represents the distribution of continuous data in the form of individual dots for each value. For example, if 10 students like math it is represented by 10 dots on a dot plot. In the above example of the number of kids vaccinated, the first graph showing 7 dots for colony A, 3 dots for colony B, etc is an example of a Wilkinson dot plot.

Cleveland Dot Plot

The Cleveland dot plot is a good alternative to a simple bar map if you have more than a few elements. It doesn't take much to look cluttered on a bar map. Many more values can be used in a dot plot in the same amount of space, and it's also simpler to read. This type of plot is similar to a bar chart but uses a location instead of the length of the bar formed by multiple dots. Just like how the height of the bar chart represents the number of items, the position of the dot on the number line or on the graph represents the number of items for that category. In the above example of vaccinated children in 4 colonies, the second graph showing only one dot for each colony is an example of a Cleveland dot plot.

How to Make a Dot Plot?

There are many ways to draw a dot plot but the best way is to draw it by hand. Let's understand with the help of an example. The data which is given below shows the number of books read by a number of kids during last summer holidays.

No.of books read	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
No. of Kids	4	6	3	1	2	1	0	1	1	1

Follow the steps given below to make a dot plot:

Step 1: Select a scale and set it up.

We are going to create a horizontal scale, and all values must be enclosed. The smallest value is 0 for this data set and the largest is 9. Give the title on a number line number of books.

Step 2: Plot the dots.

In this step, you will begin to fill in the dots using your scale for this stage. Keep in mind that "Each value gets a dot & dots are stacked”. To check this, let’s start by plotting only the first row of data. You can see that each value is defined by a dot on the plot and that we have 4 dots set on top of each other. Because there are 4 kids who read 0 books. Now, with the rest of the details, we can continue the operation. Keep in mind that while you can't do this perfectly by hand, you should try to make sure that the dots mostly match up. You do not want broad gaps between dots to make one value seem more prevalent than another.

That's really it! The dot plot is a great plot to use precisely because it is so easy to create and read for the representation of data. Note that our purpose is also to convey knowledge to others in statistics. The faster we are able to do this, the better.

Important Notes:

Given below are some of the important notes related to the dot plot. Have a look!

• The dot plot shows the distribution of numerical variables where a value is represented by each dot on a number line or on graph.
• The distribution of continuous data points, such as a histogram, is shown in the Wilkinson dot diagram that displays individual data points rather than bins.
• The Cleveland dot plot shows graphical data elements and displays a continuous variable versus a categorical variable.

Related Articles on Dot Plot

Check out these interesting articles to know more about dot plot and its related topics.

• Data Handling
• Line Graphs
• Stem and Leaf Plot
• Pie Charts