Practice question · Multiple choice
Anscombe's quartet is four datasets with identical means, variances, correlation and regression line, and wildly different shapes. What was Anscombe demonstrating?
Hints
- All four have correlation 0.816. Ask what the four scatterplots look like.
- One is a clean line, one a perfect curve, one has a single outlier doing all the work.
Show the answer
A. That identical summaries can describe completely different data
Why
Same numbers, four different worlds: a linear relationship, a parabola, an outlier dragging the line, and a single leverage point. The summaries are correct and insufficient, which is why 'plot it first' is methodological advice rather than aesthetic preference.
Practise Descriptive Statistics
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