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Abstract Box plots display batches of data. Five values from a set of data are conventionally used; the extremes, the upper and lower hinges (quartiles), and the median. Such plots are becoming a widely used tool in exploratory data analysis and in preparing visual summaries for statisticians and nonstatisticians alike. Three variants of the basic display, devised by the authors, are described. The first visually incorporates a measure of group size; the second incorporates an indication of rough significance of differences between medians; the third combines the features of the first two. These techniques are displayed by examples.
McGill et al. (1978) studied this question.