There are some differences in the way the Stem & Leaf tool plots when compared to the other. Too little and they become pointless, too much and the chart becomes over-cluttered. The Stem & Leaf plotting tool can graph up to two data boxes. In terms of weaknesses, Stem & Leaf Plots are limited in the size of dataset they can handle. If you have two datasets, then a back-to-back or double Stem & Leaf Plot can be used to compare the two datasets together. Displaying the data (mostly) raw makes Stem & Leaf Plots useful as a reference tool, such as a public transport schedule. So in a dataset of (4,11,2,20,17,23) the data would be arranged based on their 10's digit but have only their 1's digit displayed:Īs well as giving readers a quick overview of the data distribution, Stem & Leaf Plots are useful for highlighting outliers and finding the mode. The chart displays the age breakdown of a small population. Basically, the plot splits two-digit numbers in half: Stems The first digit Leaves The second digit As an example, look at the chart below.

The leaves in column H need to be sorted in ascending order. The chart shows that in the 30’s, there is one value 39. Data that is within each place value is listed and extends sideways from it as a 'leaf'. A stem-and-leaf display (also known as a stemplot) is a diagram designed to allow you to quickly assess the distribution of a given dataset. They would create the stem and leaf plot shown in G2:H6. The term stem and leaf is so because the plot is given in a tabular format where each numeric value or data item is split into a stem. Place values are shown ascending downwards on a 'stem' column, typically but not always in tens. In R, stem and leaf plots (also known as stem and leaf diagrams) of any quantitative variable, say x, is a textual graph that is used to classify the data items in order of their most significant numeric digits. Stem & Leaf Plots are a way of organising data via their place value to show the distribution of data. As known as a Stemplot, Stem & Leaf Display.

Stem and leaf plot generator