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Dot plots and frequency tables review

Dot plots and frequency tables are tools for displaying data in a more organized fashion. In this article, we review how to make dot plots and frequency tables.
Dot plots and frequency tables are nice ways to organize and display data. To see how they work, we'll need some data.
Every four years, soccer teams from around the world compete in the World Cup. The following list shows the number of goals scored in the championship game of each World Cup from 1930-2014:
A handwritten data set. Two numbers in the data set have an asterisk to show the matches ended in penalty kick shoot-outs and those goals are not being counted. The data set is 6, 3, 6, 3, 5, 7, 4, 6, 5, 3, 4, 4, 5, 1, 0 asterisk, 3, 2, 2 asterisk, 1, and 1.
This data set is interesting, but it’s too disorganized. Let’s organize it into a frequency table and also a dot plot.

Frequency table

A handwritten data set. The data set is 6, 3, 6, 3, 5, 7, 4, 6, 5, 3, 4, 4, 5, 1, 0, 3, 2, 2, 1, and 1. A frequency table models the data. There are two columns and eight rows. The left column is labeled number of goals. The right column is labeled frequency. 0 has a frequency of 1. There is an arrow that says there is one 0 in the data set. 1 has a frequency of 3. 2 has a frequency of 2. 3 has a frequency of 4. There is an arrow pointing at the frequency saying there are four threes in the data set. 4 has a frequency of 3. 5 has a frequency of 3. 6 has a frequency of 3 and 7 has a frequency of 1.
The frequency table (right) organizes the data nicely. At a glance, we can tell that the most common number of goals (the mode) is 3.

Dot plot

A handwritten data set. The data set is 6, 3, 6, 3, 5, 7, 4, 6, 5, 3, 4, 4, 5, 1, 0, 3, 2, 2, 1, and 1. A dot plot models the data. The number line is labeled number of goals scored. The number line is numbered 0 through 7 and scales by 1. There is one dot above 0. There are 3 dots above 1. There are 2 dots above 2. There are 4 dots above 3. There are 3 dots above 4. There are 3 dots above 5. There are 3 dots above 6. There is 1 dot above 7.
The dot plot (right) is very similar to the frequency table, but instead of using numbers to show frequency, it uses dots. Each dot represents a data point.
Want a more detailed explanation of frequency tables and dot plots? Watch this video.
Want to practice creating dot plots and frequency tables yourself? Try creating frequency tables, creating dot plots, or reading dot plots and frequency tables.

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