What is the purpose of a box plot?

A box plot, also known as a whisker plot, is specifically designed to present summary statistics of a dataset, which includes the median, quartiles, and potential outliers. The primary purpose of a box plot is to provide a visual representation of the distribution of the dataset, highlighting its central tendency and variability.

The box itself represents the interquartile range (IQR), which encompasses the middle 50% of the data, offering insight into the spread and concentration of values. The median is marked within the box, indicating the central point of the dataset. Additionally, the "whiskers" extend from the box to the minimum and maximum values within a specified range, while any data points that fall outside this range are shown as individual dots or symbols, identifying them as outliers. This enables viewers to quickly assess the overall data distribution, central value, spread, and any values that deviate significantly from the rest of the dataset.

Other options like showing the frequencies of variables, visualizing the mean, or demonstrating correlation do not align with the primary function of a box plot. While there are other types of plots designed for those purposes, the box plot is uniquely focused on providing a snapshot of the dataset's summary statistics and identifying outliers