Dot plot

A dot plot is a graph used in statistics for organising and displaying numerical data.

Using a number line, a dot plot displays a dot for each observation. Where there is more that one observation, or observations are close in value, the dots are stacked vertically. If there are a large number of observations, dots can represent more than one observation. Dot plots are ideally suited for organising and displaying discrete numerical data.

The dot plot below displays the number of passengers observed in 32 cars stopped at a traffic light.

Dot plots can also be used to display categorical data, with the numbers on the number line replaced by category labels.