Describing scatterplots (form, direction,

strength, outliers)
When we look at scatterplot, we should be able to describe the association we see between the
variables.
A quick description of the association in a scatterplot should always include a description of the
form, direction, and strength of the association, along with the presence of any outliers.

 Form: Is the association linear or nonlinear?

 Direction: Is the association positive or negative?
 Strength: Does the association appear to be strong, moderately strong, or weak?
 Outliers: Do there appear to be any data points that are unusually far away from the
general pattern?
It's also important to include the context of the two variables in the description of these features.
Here's an example:

Example
Let's describe this scatterplot, which shows the relationship between the age of drivers and the
number of car accidents per 100 drivers in the year 2009.
Here's a possible description that mentions the
form, direction, strength, and the presence of
outliers—and mentions the context of the two
variables:

"This scatterplot shows a strong,

negative, linear association between
age of drivers and number of
accidents. There don't appear to be
any outliers in the data."
Notice that the description mentions
the form (linear), the direction (negative),
the strength (strong), and the lack of outliers. It
also mentions the context of the two variables in
question (age of drivers and number of accidents).
Practice
Choose the scatterplot that best fits the description:

"There is a strong, positive, linear association between the two

variables."

"There is a moderately strong, negative, linear association between

the two variables with a few potential outliers."

Look at the following scatterplot and description.

There is a strong negative association between heart rate and

life expectancy. There don't seem to be any outliers.

What, if anything, is missing from this description?

A. Form.
B. Direction.
C. Strength.
D. Outliers.
E. Nothing is missing.
 There was a strong positive association between goals scored
per match and number of wins. There don't seem to be any
obvious outliers.

What, if anything, is missing from this description?

A. Form.
B. Direction.
C. Strength.
D. Outliers.
E. Nothing is missing.

There is a weak negative association between the amount of

rain and the temperature when it rains. The day with  2  cm2 of
rain and a temperature 3°C degrees seems to be an outlier.

What, if anything, is missing from this description?

A. Form.
B. Direction.
C. Strength.
D. Outliers.
E. Nothing is missing.

Your turn: Look at the following scatterplots and provide a

description including form, direction, strength and outliers.

The manager of a factory wants to see if there is a relationship

between safety and output. For 11 days, they track the output of the
factory and give each day a safety rating. Here are results:
Describe the scatterplot here:

1
Adapted from: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/ap-statistics/bivariate-data-ap/scatterplots-
correlation/a/describing-scatterplots-form-direction-strength-outliers 06/08/2021