What is a stem-and-leaf plot?

• A. A data display that shows the distribution of values by splitting digits into stems and leaves.
• B. A graph of means over time.
• C. A method to compute standard deviation.
• D. A chart that lists data in ascending order only.

Answer: (A)

A stem-and-leaf plot is a data display that shows the distribution of values by splitting digits into stems and leaves. The stems hold the leading digits (like tens), and the leaves hold the trailing digits (the units). This keeps the actual data values readable while revealing the overall shape of the distribution, so you can see where values cluster and how spread out they are. For example, with data 12, 13, 24, 25, you’d place 1 | 2 3 and 2 | 4 5, showing both the exact numbers and their arrangement. This differs from simply plotting means over time (a time-series line graph), computing a standard deviation (a statistic), or listing data in ascending order (a sorted list) which doesn’t preserve the same level of detail about the values and their distribution.