A stemplot is a method to display data by splitting each number into a stem and leaf, with the ones digit as the leaf and other digits as the stem. It allows comparison of two data sets side by side. A dotplot displays the frequency of data values and is useful when the data is categorical. It may not be suitable to display continuous numeric data like golf scores.

1. Stemplots A stemplot is a relatively new method of displaying data, in which each element of the data set is divided into a stem and a leaf . For example, for the set of daily high temperatures in the last 5 days: 93 89 79 82 80 Each element would be split so that the ones digit is a leaf, and the rest of the digits are a stem. The resulting stemplot looks like this: Try making your own stemplot with the following set of numbers: 85 88 93 77 80 51 93 100 89 92 7 8 9 9 0 2 9 3

2. Try making your own stemplot with the following set of numbers: 85 88 93 77 80 51 93 100 89 92

3. Back to Back Stemplots Stemplots can be used to compare two sets of data by setting them “Back to Back.” For example, if we want to compare the test scores of two different Precalculus classes: Class 1: 85 99 86 90 75 85 83 72 77 81 Class 2: 89 85 89 91 60 72 82 81 76 7 5 2 6 5 5 3 1 9 0 6 7 8 9 0 2 6 1 2 5 9 9 1 Class 1 Class 2

4. Dotplots A dotplot is used to display the frequency of occurrence of different elements of data. For example, a dotplot representing the number of colleges that a group of 15 seniors each applied to might look like this: In this example, four of the seniors applied to 10 colleges each, while three applied to 12 colleges each. Like a stemplot, a dotplot allows you to quickly identify the minimum, maximum, and mode of a data set. However, a dotplot is not always appropriate. What might a dotplot of the following set of golf scores look like? 95 92 70 72 73 85 81 105 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

5. What might a dotplot of the following set of golf scores look like? 95 92 68 72 73 85 81 105 The following is a stemplot representing home runs hit by Babe Ruth and Roger Maris in each of their seasons with the New York Yankees: Which of the two baseball players do you think was a better home run hitter? Why? Other than the number of home runs hit per year, what are some other variables you might consider to determine who was the greatest major league home run hitter of all time? Maris Ruth 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 5 5 1 6 6 6 7 9 4 9 0 8 4 3 6 3 3 1