Boxplot





This is the boxplot section of the gallery. If you want to know more about this kind of chart, visit data-to-viz.com. If you're looking for a simple way to implement it in R or ggplot2, pick an example below. Note: this online course on ggplot2 covers several geometries including geom_boxplot

Anatomy of a boxplot - Explanation - Image source



Warning

Boxplot is probably the most commonly used chart type to compare distribution of several groups. However, you should keep in mind that data distribution is hidden behind each box. For instance, a normal distribution could look exactly the same as a bimodal distribution. Please read more explanation on this matter, and consider a violin plot or a ridgline chart instead.



Ggplot2

Boxplot are built thanks to the geom_boxplot() geom of ggplot2. See its basic usage on the first example below. Note that reordering groups is an important step to get a more insightful figure. Also, showing individual data points with jittering is a good way to avoid hiding the underlying distribution.




Basic R

Build boxplot with base R is totally doable thanks to the boxplot() function. Here are a few examples of its use:

🌐 From the web

The web is full of astonishing R charts made by awesome bloggers. The R graph gallery tries to display some of the best creations and explain how their source code works. If you want to display your work here, please drop me a word or even better, submit a Pull Request!

Related chart types


Violin
Density
Histogram
Boxplot
Ridgeline