The Interpretation of Scatter Plots by Baccalaureate Students

Abstract

In this paper, it is assumed that correlation is an important subject in the Baccalaureate curriculum. The importance of graphs in statistic education is outlined; attention is focus on scatter plot diagrams, the study of which usually initiates the subject of random dependency between variables, correlation and regression in the current baccalaureate curriculum. A sample of baccalaureate students was used along with a questionnaire on scatter plots. With the students’ answers, we have characterized the meaning and interpretation that these students have of these graphs. We end with implications for education and questions for other research.