Well usually when you are analyzing some data, you toss it into the most basic chart like a histogram.
And a histogram for the author's example is perfectly acceptable to show that single data series.
But imagine if you have 10 different normal data series and you want to compare their medians and distributions between each other... well are you going to put 10 histograms side by side and expect the reader to compare them? No -- that's where the box and whisker plot shines.
And a histogram for the author's example is perfectly acceptable to show that single data series.
But imagine if you have 10 different normal data series and you want to compare their medians and distributions between each other... well are you going to put 10 histograms side by side and expect the reader to compare them? No -- that's where the box and whisker plot shines.