Box Plots for Data Distribution Analysis

Boxplot graphs, also known as box and whisker plots, offer a compelling way to visually display the distribution and summary statistics of a dataset. They present key descriptive statistics such as median, quartiles, and potential outliers, making them ideal for comparing data across different groups or identifying unusual data points. Understanding boxplot graphs is essential for data analysis. These graphs quickly reveal central tendency, spread, and skewness, providing valuable insights for decision-making. Their effectiveness in visualizing data makes them a staple in various fields, from finance and healthcare to engineering and social sciences.


Economist GGPlot Excel Paul Tol Black And White Solarized Stata Tableau Wall Street CanvasXpress
Edit this code: edit inJSFiddle edit inCodePen 
<html>

  <head>
    <!-- Include the CanvasXpress library in your HTML file -->
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.canvasxpress.org/dist/canvasXpress.css" type="text/css"/>
    <script src="https://www.canvasxpress.org/dist/canvasXpress.min.js"></script>
  </head>

  <body>

    <!-- Create a canvas element for the chart with the desired dimensions -->
    <div>
      <canvas id="canvasId" width="600" height="600"></canvas>
    </div>


    <!-- Create a script to initialize the chart -->
    <script>

      // Use a data frame (2D-array) for the graph
      var data = [
        [ "Id", "len", "order", "dose", "supp"],
        [ "Var1", 4.2, 1, "0.5", "VC"],
        [ "Var2", 11.5, 2, "0.5", "VC"],
        [ "Var3", 7.3, 3, "0.5", "VC"],
        [ "Var4", 5.8, 4, "0.5", "VC"],
        [ "Var5", 6.4, 5, "0.5", "VC"],
        [ "Var6", 10, 6, "0.5", "VC"],
        [ "Var7", 11.2, 7, "0.5", "VC"],
        [ "Var8", 11.2, 8, "0.5", "VC"],
        [ "Var9", 5.2, 9, "0.5", "VC"],
        [ "Var10", 7, 10, "0.5", "VC"],
        [ "Var11", 16.5, 1, "1", "VC"],
        [ "Var12", 16.5, 2, "1", "VC"],
        [ "Var13", 15.2, 3, "1", "VC"],
        [ "Var14", 17.3, 4, "1", "VC"],
        [ "Var15", 22.5, 5, "1", "VC"],
        [ "Var16", 17.3, 6, "1", "VC"],
        [ "Var17", 13.6, 7, "1", "VC"],
        [ "Var18", 14.5, 8, "1", "VC"],
        [ "Var19", 18.8, 9, "1", "VC"],
        [ "Var20", 15.5, 10, "1", "VC"],
        [ "Var21", 23.6, 1, "2", "VC"],
        [ "Var22", 18.5, 2, "2", "VC"],
        [ "Var23", 33.9, 3, "2", "VC"],
        [ "Var24", 25.5, 4, "2", "VC"],
        [ "Var25", 26.4, 5, "2", "VC"],
        [ "Var26", 32.5, 6, "2", "VC"],
        [ "Var27", 26.7, 7, "2", "VC"],
        [ "Var28", 21.5, 8, "2", "VC"],
        // ... (data truncated after 29 records for clarity)
      ]

      // Create the configuration for the graph
      var config = {
         "colorBy" : "supp",
         "colorLegendTitle" : "supp",
         "colorScheme" : "GGPlot",
         "decorations": {
            "marker": [
               {
                  "color": "black",
                  "group": 0,
                  "group2": 1,
                  "text": "0.0191",
                  "type": "pwc",
                  "variable": "len",
                  "ymax": 36,
                  "ymin": 36
               },
               {
                  "color": "black",
                  "group": 2,
                  "group2": 3,
                  "text": "0.0031",
                  "type": "pwc",
                  "variable": "len",
                  "ymax": 36,
                  "ymin": 36
               },
               {
                  "color": "black",
                  "group": 4,
                  "group2": 5,
                  "text": "1",
                  "type": "pwc",
                  "variable": "len",
                  "ymax": 36,
                  "ymin": 36
               },
               {
                  "color": "black",
                  "group": 0,
                  "group2": 2,
                  "group3": 1,
                  "group4": 3,
                  "text": "<0.0001",
                  "type": "pwc",
                  "variable": "len",
                  "ymax": 40,
                  "ymin": 40
               },
               {
                  "color": "black",
                  "group": 0,
                  "group2": 4,
                  "group3": 1,
                  "group4": 5,
                  "text": "<0.0001",
                  "type": "pwc",
                  "variable": "len",
                  "ymax": 44,
                  "ymin": 44
               },
               {
                  "color": "black",
                  "group": 2,
                  "group2": 4,
                  "group3": 3,
                  "group4": 5,
                  "text": "<0.0001",
                  "type": "pwc",
                  "variable": "len",
                  "ymax": 48,
                  "ymin": 48
               }
            ]
         },
         "graphOrientation" : "vertical",
         "graphType" : "Boxplot",
         "groupingFactors" : ["dose","supp"],
         "legendColumns" : 8,
         "legendPosition" : "top",
         "smpTextRotate" : 90,
         "smpTitle" : "len",
         "sortOnGrouping" : "ascending",
         "theme" : "GGPlot",
         "xAxis" : ["len"]
      }

      // Event used to create graph (optional)
      var events = false

      // Call the CanvasXpress function to create the graph
      var cX = new CanvasXpress("canvasId", data, config, events);

    </script>

  </body>

</html>
Edit this code: edit inJSFiddle edit inCodePen 
<html>

  <head>
    <!-- Include the CanvasXpress library in your HTML file -->
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.canvasxpress.org/dist/canvasXpress.css" type="text/css"/>
    <script src="https://www.canvasxpress.org/dist/canvasXpress.min.js"></script>
  </head>

  <body>

    <!-- Create a canvas element for the chart with the desired dimensions -->
    <div>
      <canvas id="canvasId" width="600" height="600"></canvas>
    </div>


    <!-- Create a script to initialize the chart -->
    <script>

      // Create the data for the graph
      var data = {
         "x" : {
            "dose" : ["0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","1","1","1","1","1","1","1","1","1","1","2","2","2","2","2","2","2","2","2","2","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","0.5","1","1","1","1","1","1","1","1","1","1","2","2","2","2","2","2","2","2","2","2"],
            "order" : [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],
            "supp" : ["VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","VC","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ","OJ"]
         },
         "y" : {
            "data" : [
              [4.2,11.5,7.3,5.8,6.4,10,11.2,11.2,5.2,7,16.5,16.5,15.2,17.3,22.5,17.3,13.6,14.5,18.8,15.5,23.6,18.5,33.9,25.5,26.4,32.5,26.7,21.5,23.3,29.5,15.2,21.5,17.6,9.7,14.5,10,8.2,9.4,16.5,9.7,19.7,23.3,23.6,26.4,20,25.2,25.8,21.2,14.5,27.3,25.5,26.4,22.4,24.5,24.8,30.9,26.4,27.3,29.4,23]
            ],
            "smps" : ["Var1","Var2","Var3","Var4","Var5","Var6","Var7","Var8","Var9","Var10","Var11","Var12","Var13","Var14","Var15","Var16","Var17","Var18","Var19","Var20","Var21","Var22","Var23","Var24","Var25","Var26","Var27","Var28","Var29","Var30","Var31","Var32","Var33","Var34","Var35","Var36","Var37","Var38","Var39","Var40","Var41","Var42","Var43","Var44","Var45","Var46","Var47","Var48","Var49","Var50","Var51","Var52","Var53","Var54","Var55","Var56","Var57","Var58","Var59","Var60"],
            "vars" : ["len"]
         }
      }

      // Create the configuration for the graph
      var config = {
         "colorBy" : "supp",
         "colorLegendTitle" : "supp",
         "colorScheme" : "GGPlot",
         "decorations": {
            "marker": [
               {
                  "color": "black",
                  "group": 0,
                  "group2": 1,
                  "text": "0.0191",
                  "type": "pwc",
                  "variable": "len",
                  "ymax": 36,
                  "ymin": 36
               },
               {
                  "color": "black",
                  "group": 2,
                  "group2": 3,
                  "text": "0.0031",
                  "type": "pwc",
                  "variable": "len",
                  "ymax": 36,
                  "ymin": 36
               },
               {
                  "color": "black",
                  "group": 4,
                  "group2": 5,
                  "text": "1",
                  "type": "pwc",
                  "variable": "len",
                  "ymax": 36,
                  "ymin": 36
               },
               {
                  "color": "black",
                  "group": 0,
                  "group2": 2,
                  "group3": 1,
                  "group4": 3,
                  "text": "<0.0001",
                  "type": "pwc",
                  "variable": "len",
                  "ymax": 40,
                  "ymin": 40
               },
               {
                  "color": "black",
                  "group": 0,
                  "group2": 4,
                  "group3": 1,
                  "group4": 5,
                  "text": "<0.0001",
                  "type": "pwc",
                  "variable": "len",
                  "ymax": 44,
                  "ymin": 44
               },
               {
                  "color": "black",
                  "group": 2,
                  "group2": 4,
                  "group3": 3,
                  "group4": 5,
                  "text": "<0.0001",
                  "type": "pwc",
                  "variable": "len",
                  "ymax": 48,
                  "ymin": 48
               }
            ]
         },
         "graphOrientation" : "vertical",
         "graphType" : "Boxplot",
         "groupingFactors" : ["dose","supp"],
         "legendColumns" : 8,
         "legendPosition" : "top",
         "smpTextRotate" : 90,
         "smpTitle" : "len",
         "sortOnGrouping" : "ascending",
         "theme" : "GGPlot",
         "xAxis" : ["len"]
      }

      // Event used to create graph (optional)
      var events = false

            // Call the CanvasXpress function to create the graph
      var cX = new CanvasXpress("canvasId", data, config, events);

    </script>

  </body>

</html>
library(canvasXpress)
y=read.table("https://www.canvasxpress.org/data/r/cX-toothgrowth-dat.txt", header=TRUE, sep="\t", quote="", row.names=1, fill=TRUE, check.names=FALSE, stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
x=read.table("https://www.canvasxpress.org/data/r/cX-toothgrowth-smp.txt", header=TRUE, sep="\t", quote="", row.names=1, fill=TRUE, check.names=FALSE, stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
canvasXpress(
data=y,
smpAnnot=x,
colorBy="supp",
colorLegendTitle="supp",
colorScheme="GGPlot",
decorations=list(marker=list(list(color="black", group=0, group2=1, text=0.0191, type="pwc", variable="len", ymax=36, ymin=36), list(color="black", group=2, group2=3, text=0.0031, type="pwc", variable="len", ymax=36, ymin=36), list(color="black", group=4, group2=5, text=1, type="pwc", variable="len", ymax=36, ymin=36), list(color="black", group=0, group2=2, group3=1, group4=3, text="<0.0001", type="pwc", variable="len", ymax=40, ymin=40), list(color="black", group=0, group2=4, group3=1, group4=5, text="<0.0001", type="pwc", variable="len", ymax=44, ymin=44), list(color="black", group=2, group2=4, group3=3, group4=5, text="<0.0001", type="pwc", variable="len", ymax=48, ymin=48))),
graphOrientation="vertical",
graphType="Boxplot",
groupingFactors=list("dose", "supp"),
legendColumns=8,
legendPosition="top",
smpTextRotate=90,
smpTitle="len",
sortOnGrouping="ascending",
theme="GGPlot",
xAxis=list("len")
)
from canvasxpress.canvas import CanvasXpress
from canvasxpress.plot import show_in_browser

if __name__ == "__main__":
  # Define the chart with its data and configuration
  chart: CanvasXpress = CanvasXpress(
    render_to = "boxplot20",
    data = {
      "x": {
        "dose": ["0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2"],
        "order": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10],
        "supp": ["VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ"]
      },
      "y": {
        "data": [
          [4.2, 11.5, 7.3, 5.8, 6.4, 10, 11.2, 11.2, 5.2, 7, 16.5, 16.5, 15.2, 17.3, 22.5, 17.3, 13.6, 14.5, 18.8, 15.5, 23.6, 18.5, 33.9, 25.5, 26.4, 32.5, 26.7, 21.5, 23.3, 29.5, 15.2, 21.5, 17.6, 9.7, 14.5, 10, 8.2, 9.4, 16.5, 9.7, 19.7, 23.3, 23.6, 26.4, 20, 25.2, 25.8, 21.2, 14.5, 27.3, 25.5, 26.4, 22.4, 24.5, 24.8, 30.9, 26.4, 27.3, 29.4, 23]
        ],
        "smps": ["Var1", "Var2", "Var3", "Var4", "Var5", "Var6", "Var7", "Var8", "Var9", "Var10", "Var11", "Var12", "Var13", "Var14", "Var15", "Var16", "Var17", "Var18", "Var19", "Var20", "Var21", "Var22", "Var23", "Var24", "Var25", "Var26", "Var27", "Var28", "Var29", "Var30", "Var31", "Var32", "Var33", "Var34", "Var35", "Var36", "Var37", "Var38", "Var39", "Var40", "Var41", "Var42", "Var43", "Var44", "Var45", "Var46", "Var47", "Var48", "Var49", "Var50", "Var51", "Var52", "Var53", "Var54", "Var55", "Var56", "Var57", "Var58", "Var59", "Var60"],
        "vars": ["len"]
      }
    },
    config = {
      "colorBy": "supp",
      "colorLegendTitle": "supp",
      "colorScheme": "GGPlot",
      "decorations": {
        "marker": [
          {
            "color": "black",
            "group": 0,
            "group2": 1,
            "text": "0.0191",
            "type": "pwc",
            "variable": "len",
            "ymax": 36,
            "ymin": 36
          },
          {
            "color": "black",
            "group": 2,
            "group2": 3,
            "text": "0.0031",
            "type": "pwc",
            "variable": "len",
            "ymax": 36,
            "ymin": 36
          },
          {
            "color": "black",
            "group": 4,
            "group2": 5,
            "text": "1",
            "type": "pwc",
            "variable": "len",
            "ymax": 36,
            "ymin": 36
          },
          {
            "color": "black",
            "group": 0,
            "group2": 2,
            "group3": 1,
            "group4": 3,
            "text": "<0.0001",
            "type": "pwc",
            "variable": "len",
            "ymax": 40,
            "ymin": 40
          },
          {
            "color": "black",
            "group": 0,
            "group2": 4,
            "group3": 1,
            "group4": 5,
            "text": "<0.0001",
            "type": "pwc",
            "variable": "len",
            "ymax": 44,
            "ymin": 44
          },
          {
            "color": "black",
            "group": 2,
            "group2": 4,
            "group3": 3,
            "group4": 5,
            "text": "<0.0001",
            "type": "pwc",
            "variable": "len",
            "ymax": 48,
            "ymin": 48
          }
        ]
      },
      "graphOrientation": "vertical",
      "graphType": "Boxplot",
      "groupingFactors": ["dose", "supp"],
      "legendColumns": 8,
      "legendPosition": "top",
      "smpTextRotate": 90,
      "smpTitle": "len",
      "sortOnGrouping": "ascending",
      "theme": "GGPlot",
      "xAxis": ["len"]
    },
    width = 600,
    height = 600
  )

  # Display the chart in its own Web page
  show_in_browser(chart)
Run this notebook: Open in Binder 
from canvasxpress.canvas import CanvasXpress
from canvasxpress.plot import graph

graph(
  CanvasXpress(
    render_to = "boxplot20",
    data = {
      "x": {
        "dose": ["0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "0.5", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2", "2"],
        "order": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10],
        "supp": ["VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "VC", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ", "OJ"]
      },
      "y": {
        "data": [
          [4.2, 11.5, 7.3, 5.8, 6.4, 10, 11.2, 11.2, 5.2, 7, 16.5, 16.5, 15.2, 17.3, 22.5, 17.3, 13.6, 14.5, 18.8, 15.5, 23.6, 18.5, 33.9, 25.5, 26.4, 32.5, 26.7, 21.5, 23.3, 29.5, 15.2, 21.5, 17.6, 9.7, 14.5, 10, 8.2, 9.4, 16.5, 9.7, 19.7, 23.3, 23.6, 26.4, 20, 25.2, 25.8, 21.2, 14.5, 27.3, 25.5, 26.4, 22.4, 24.5, 24.8, 30.9, 26.4, 27.3, 29.4, 23]
        ],
        "smps": ["Var1", "Var2", "Var3", "Var4", "Var5", "Var6", "Var7", "Var8", "Var9", "Var10", "Var11", "Var12", "Var13", "Var14", "Var15", "Var16", "Var17", "Var18", "Var19", "Var20", "Var21", "Var22", "Var23", "Var24", "Var25", "Var26", "Var27", "Var28", "Var29", "Var30", "Var31", "Var32", "Var33", "Var34", "Var35", "Var36", "Var37", "Var38", "Var39", "Var40", "Var41", "Var42", "Var43", "Var44", "Var45", "Var46", "Var47", "Var48", "Var49", "Var50", "Var51", "Var52", "Var53", "Var54", "Var55", "Var56", "Var57", "Var58", "Var59", "Var60"],
        "vars": ["len"]
      }
    },
    config = {
      "colorBy": "supp",
      "colorLegendTitle": "supp",
      "colorScheme": "GGPlot",
      "decorations": {
        "marker": [
          {
            "color": "black",
            "group": 0,
            "group2": 1,
            "text": "0.0191",
            "type": "pwc",
            "variable": "len",
            "ymax": 36,
            "ymin": 36
          },
          {
            "color": "black",
            "group": 2,
            "group2": 3,
            "text": "0.0031",
            "type": "pwc",
            "variable": "len",
            "ymax": 36,
            "ymin": 36
          },
          {
            "color": "black",
            "group": 4,
            "group2": 5,
            "text": "1",
            "type": "pwc",
            "variable": "len",
            "ymax": 36,
            "ymin": 36
          },
          {
            "color": "black",
            "group": 0,
            "group2": 2,
            "group3": 1,
            "group4": 3,
            "text": "<0.0001",
            "type": "pwc",
            "variable": "len",
            "ymax": 40,
            "ymin": 40
          },
          {
            "color": "black",
            "group": 0,
            "group2": 4,
            "group3": 1,
            "group4": 5,
            "text": "<0.0001",
            "type": "pwc",
            "variable": "len",
            "ymax": 44,
            "ymin": 44
          },
          {
            "color": "black",
            "group": 2,
            "group2": 4,
            "group3": 3,
            "group4": 5,
            "text": "<0.0001",
            "type": "pwc",
            "variable": "len",
            "ymax": 48,
            "ymin": 48
          }
        ]
      },
      "graphOrientation": "vertical",
      "graphType": "Boxplot",
      "groupingFactors": ["dose", "supp"],
      "legendColumns": 8,
      "legendPosition": "top",
      "smpTextRotate": 90,
      "smpTitle": "len",
      "sortOnGrouping": "ascending",
      "theme": "GGPlot",
      "xAxis": ["len"]
    },
    width = 600,
    height = 600
  )
)
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CanvasXpress a stand-alone JavaScript Library for Data Analytics. Built for the purpose of reproducible research with a sophisticated and unobtrusive user interface. Full and effortless audit trail of data, configuration and all user interactions in every visualization.

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