- Choose appropriate scales - use most of the grid space
- Label axes clearly with variable names and units
- Plot points accurately - use a sharp pencil and read coordinates carefully
- Identify correlation type - strong/weak and positive/negative/none
- Line of best fit should be straight and balance points above/below
- Ignore outliers when drawing the line of best fit
- Extend the line appropriately for making predictions
- Be cautious with extrapolation - state that it's less reliable
This exam tips covers Exam Tips for Scatter Graphs within Scatter Graphs for GCSE Mathematics. Revise Scatter Graphs in Statistics for GCSE Mathematics with 14 exam-style questions and 20 flashcards. This topic appears less often, but it can still be a useful differentiator on mixed-topic papers. It is section 6 of 8 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
Practice questions for Scatter Graphs
A scatter graph shows that as temperature increases, ice cream sales also increase. This is an example of:
A scatter graph shows a strong positive correlation between the number of ice creams sold and the number of drowning incidents at a beach. A student says: 'Ice cream causes drowning.' Explain why this conclusion is incorrect.