Editing Scatter plot (section)

{{short description|Plot using the dispersal of scattered dots to show the relationship between variables}}
{{distinguish|Correlogram|Scatter matrix}}
{{refimprove|date=April 2024}}
<div class=skin-invert-image>{{Infobox quality tool
| image = Scatter diagram for quality characteristic XXX.svg
| category = One of the '''[[Seven Basic Tools of Quality]]'''
| describer = [[John Herschel]]
| purpose = To identify the type of relationship (if any) between two quantitative variables}}</div>

[[Image:oldfaithful3.png|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|240px|Waiting time between eruptions and the duration of the eruption for the [[Old Faithful Geyser]] in [[Yellowstone National Park]], [[Wyoming]], USA. This chart suggests there are generally two types of eruptions: short-wait-short-duration, and long-wait-long-duration.]]
[[Image:Scatter plot.jpg|thumb|240px|A 3D scatter plot allows the visualization of multivariate data. This scatter plot takes multiple scalar variables and uses them for different axes in phase space. The different variables are combined to form coordinates in the phase space and they are displayed using glyphs and coloured using another scalar variable.<ref>[https://wci.llnl.gov/codes/visit/gallery.html Visualizations that have been created with VisIt] at wci.llnl.gov. Last updated: November 8, 2007.</ref>]]

A '''scatter plot''', also called a '''scatterplot''', '''scatter graph''', '''scatter chart''', '''scattergram''', or '''scatter diagram''',<ref>{{cite book |last=Jarrell |first=Stephen B. |title=Basic Statistics |year=1994 |publisher=Wm. C. Brown Pub. |location=Dubuque, Iowa |isbn=978-0-697-21595-6 |edition=Special pre-publication |page=492 |quote=When we search for a relationship between two quantitative variables, a standard graph of the available data pairs (X,Y), called a ''scatter diagram'', frequently helps...}}</ref> is a type of [[Plot (graphics)|plot]] or [[mathematical diagram]] using [[Cartesian coordinate system|Cartesian coordinates]] to display values for typically two [[Variable (mathematics)|variables]] for a set of data. If the points are coded (color/shape/size), one additional variable can be displayed.
The data are displayed as a collection of points, each having the value of one variable determining the position on the horizontal axis and the value of the other variable determining the position on the [[vertical axis]].<ref>Utts, Jessica M. ''Seeing Through Statistics'' 3rd Edition, Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2005, pp 166-167. {{isbn|0-534-39402-7}}</ref>