Which of the following best describes a scatterplot and its primary use in statistics?

• A. A scatterplot is a diagram that shows the $\mathrm{mean}$ and $\mathrm{standard\; deviation}$ of a dataset.
• B. A scatterplot is a graph that displays pairs of numerical data as points on a coordinate plane, helping us visualize the relationship between two quantitative variables.
• C. A scatterplot is a type of bar chart used to show the distribution of a single variable.
• D. A scatterplot is a table that summarizes the frequencies of categorical variables, helping us compare proportions.

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand what a scatterplot represents. A scatterplot is a graphical tool used in statistics to display data points on a coordinate plane, where each point corresponds to a pair of numerical values from two variables.
2. Step 2: Recognize the purpose of a scatterplot. It helps visualize the relationship or association between two quantitative variables, such as whether they tend to increase together, decrease together, or show no clear pattern.
3. Step 3: Differentiate a scatterplot from other graphical representations. Unlike bar charts or frequency tables, which summarize data distributions or categorical frequencies, a scatterplot focuses on pairs of numerical data points.
4. Step 4: Recall that a scatterplot does not show summary statistics like mean or standard deviation directly; instead, it shows individual data points to help identify trends, clusters, or outliers.
5. Step 5: Conclude that the best description of a scatterplot is that it is a graph displaying pairs of numerical data as points on a coordinate plane, primarily used to visualize relationships between two quantitative variables.