Histograms

In this lesson, learn how to visualize and interpret a dataset using a histogram.

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Key Concepts

Review core concepts you need to learn to master this subject

Matplotlib Function To Create Histogram

Mean of a Dataset

Histogram Bins

What is a Histogram?

Histogram Bin Count

Histogram’s X and Y Axis

Matplotlib Function To Create Histogram

import numpy as np
from matplotlib import pyplot as plt

# numpy array 
data_array = np.array([1,1,1,1,1,2,3,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,7])

# plot histogram
plt.hist(data_array, range = (1,7), bins = 7)

In Python, the pyplot.hist() function in the Matplotlib pyplot library can be used to plot a histogram. The function accepts a NumPy array, the range of the dataset, and the number of bins as input.

Histograms

Lesson 1 of 1

1
Introduction
Statistics is often pitched as a way to find certainty through data. As you’ll learn in this lesson, the power of statistics is more often used to communicate that certainty doesn’t really exist. I…
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2
Summarizing Your Data
The purpose of a histogram is to summarize data that you can use to inform a decision or explain a distribution. While a histogram is one of the most useful tools for communicating trends, people …
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3
Range
Histograms are helpful for understanding how your data is distributed. While the average time a customer may arrive at the grocery store is 3 pm, the manager knows 3 pm is not the busiest time of d…
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4
Bins and Count I
In the previous exercise, you found that the earliest transaction time is close to 0, and the latest transaction is close to 24, making your range nearly 24 hours. Now, we have the information we …
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5
Bins and Count II
A count is the number of values that fall within a bin’s range. For example, if 100 customers arrive at your grocery store between midnight (0) and 6 am (6), your count for that bin is equal to 1…
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6
Histograms
While counting the number of values in a bin is straightforward, it is also time-consuming. How long do you think it would take you to count the number of values in each bin for: - an exercise clas…
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7
Plotting a Histogram
At this point, you’ve learned how to find the numerical inputs to a histogram. Thus far the size of our datasets and bins have produced results that we can interpret. This becomes increasingly diff…
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8
Finding your Best Bin Size
The figure below displays the graph that you created in the last exercise: This histogram is helpful for our store manager. The last six hours of the day are the busiest — from 6 pm until…
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9
Review
In this lesson, you learned what a histogram is, how to calculate it using NumPy, and how to plot one with Matplotlib. The example that we used throughout this lesson, finding the busiest times of…
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