2/1/2021

Mean

  • What is mean?

Mean is the sum of a given set of numbers, divided by the how many numbers in the set.
It is also refered to as an average.

  • How does this affect the plot?

The mean of X and Y shifts where the center of the data points are on the respective axis.

Standard Deviation

  • What is standard deviation?

Standard Deviation is a measure of the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values.

  • How does this affect the plot?

The standard deviation will adjust the spread of points on the plot.

A low standard deviation indicates that the values tend to be close to the mean of the set. A high standard deviation indicates that the values are spread out over a wider range.

Using the App

Now that we have an understanding on how mean and standard deviation can affect a scatter plot, the app in the next slide can help visualize these changes.

For both x and y, select the mean and standard deviation. These inputs will be used in a normal distribution random number generator to select 20 points to plot for X and Y.

Helpful hints

  • To see the shift in means better, make standard deviations low.
  • See what happens when you make X standard deviation high and Y low.

Scatter Plot