Intermediatedistribution

Dot Plot

Show every individual data point, revealing the true granular distribution.

Quick Facts

Complexity

intermediate

Category

distribution

Dot Plot · Example Data

When to use a Dot Plot

  • Small to medium datasets (20–200 points) where all values matter
  • Showing exact individual measurements
  • Combining with a box plot for context
  • When you want full transparency about the data

About the Dot Plot

A dot plot (or strip plot) shows every individual data point as a dot along an axis. This preserves the actual data and is ideal for small-to-medium datasets where you don't want summary statistics to hide individual variation.

When points overlap, jitter (random horizontal offset) helps reveal density. For larger datasets, switch to a histogram or violin plot.