Reading dot plots helps us see how things compare. We might, for example, want to see who barracks for which team in the footy competition. The team with the most dots is more popular, and the team with the least number of dots is the least popular. We can also make a dot plot, but make sure you line your dots up. The video shows you just what can go wrong if they are a little wonky!

The table of frequency distribution helps us transfer data from a dot plot, to a table.

Remember!

a dot plot only has 1 axis
dots need to be lined up and spaced evenly
a table of frequency distribution is used to record our data in a table

Worked Examples

Question 1

A teacher made the following dot plot for the number of boys and girls in the class.

A dot plot representing the number boys and girls in a class is presented. The horizontal axis is labeled "Boys" and "Girls." Red dots represent the number of students. There are $12$ red dots on Boys, and $15$ red dots on Girls. The total count of red dots are not explicitly given.

How many girls are there in the class?
How many more girls are there compared to boys?
How many students are there in the class altogether?

Question 2

Here is a dot plot of the number of goals scored in each of $Bob$ ’s soccer games.

How many times were $five$ goals scored?
Which number of goals were scored equally and most often?
$1$1
A
$0$0
B
$4$4
C
$3$3
D
$2$2
E
$5$5
F
How many games were played in total?

Question 3

The goals scored by a football team in their matches are represented in the following dot plot.

Complete the following frequency distribution table.

Goals scored Frequency

$0$0 $\editable{}$

$1$1 $\editable{}$

$2$2 $\editable{}$

$3$3 $\editable{}$

$4$4 $\editable{}$

$5$5 $\editable{}$

Goals scored	Frequency
$0$0	$\editable{}$
$1$1	$\editable{}$
$2$2	$\editable{}$
$3$3	$\editable{}$
$4$4	$\editable{}$
$5$5	$\editable{}$

Outcomes

S3-1

Conduct investigations using the statistical enquiry cycle: – gathering, sorting, and displaying multivariate category and wholenumber data and simple time-series data to answer questions;– identifying patterns and trends in context, within and between data sets; – communicating findings, using data displays

S3-2

Evaluate the effectiveness of different displays in representing the findings of a statistical investigation or probability activity undertaken by others.

Create and interpret dot plots