Scatterplot graphs may not mean much to most people,
but to an educated statistician, or a trained psychoanalyst,
a scatterplott graph can tell a person much more than meets
the eye. A scatterplot graph allows us to take two separate
sets of data, and use a graph to compare and contrast them.
If one wanted to show the correlation between two different
test scores, they could simply plot the scores on the graph,
and either see and immediate correlation, or see that the
two are totally not connected in any way.
Statistics help us see things that we could normally
miss very easily. Using scatterplot graphs properly can show
significant consistencies in many things. Graphs like this
help show the actual extent to which two things relate. In
psychology, this is a very important tool.
Psychoanalysts can use scatterplot information in many
ways. First, anytime two tests are given, it allows doctors
and teachers alike to see if there are consistencies in test
scores. This can prove to be a very useful tool. For
example, if there is a correlation between SAT scores and
LSAT scores, then you can say that a student who does better
on his or her SAT is more likely to do better on his or her
LSAT also. This may not always tell the exact truth, but
assumptions can go a long way. By using a graph format, we
can see consistencies and correlations much easier than if
we were just looking at a list of data.
The main advantage of using a scatterplot graph is that
two things which would ordinarily not have any correlation
to one another may have more correlation than expected. This
means, that from the graph, a person has the ability to find
out things that they were not even necessarily looking for
Scatterplot graphs also allow a psychoanalyst to
predict what will happen in the future. People have their
own averages. If a student who normally does well does
poorly on an exam, he wil...