<s>
A	O
stem-and-leaf	B-Application
display	I-Application
or	O
stem-and-leaf	B-Application
plot	I-Application
is	O
a	O
device	O
for	O
presenting	O
quantitative	O
data	O
in	O
a	O
graphical	O
format	O
,	O
similar	O
to	O
a	O
histogram	B-Algorithm
,	O
to	O
assist	O
in	O
visualizing	O
the	O
shape	O
of	O
a	O
distribution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
evolved	O
from	O
Arthur	O
Bowley	O
's	O
work	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1900s	O
,	O
and	O
are	O
useful	O
tools	O
in	O
exploratory	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
analysis	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stemplots	B-Application
became	O
more	O
commonly	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
1980s	O
after	O
the	O
publication	O
of	O
John	O
Tukey	O
's	O
book	O
on	O
exploratory	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
analysis	I-General_Concept
in	O
1977	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
stem-and-leaf	B-Application
plot	I-Application
is	O
also	O
called	O
a	O
stemplot	B-Application
,	O
but	O
the	O
latter	O
term	O
often	O
refers	O
to	O
another	O
chart	O
type	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
simple	O
stem	B-Application
plot	I-Application
may	O
refer	O
to	O
plotting	O
a	O
matrix	O
of	O
y	O
values	O
onto	O
a	O
common	O
x	O
axis	O
,	O
and	O
identifying	O
the	O
common	O
x	O
value	O
with	O
a	O
vertical	O
line	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
individual	O
y	O
values	O
with	O
symbols	O
on	O
the	O
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
histograms	B-Algorithm
,	O
stem-and-leaf	B-Application
displays	I-Application
retain	O
the	O
original	O
data	O
to	O
at	O
least	O
two	O
significant	O
digits	O
,	O
and	O
put	O
the	O
data	O
in	O
order	O
,	O
thereby	O
easing	O
the	O
move	O
to	O
order-based	O
inference	O
and	O
non-parametric	B-General_Concept
statistics	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
construct	O
a	O
stem-and-leaf	B-Application
display	I-Application
,	O
the	O
observations	O
must	O
first	O
be	O
sorted	O
in	O
ascending	O
order	O
:	O
this	O
can	O
be	O
done	O
most	O
easily	O
if	O
working	O
by	O
hand	O
by	O
constructing	O
a	O
draft	O
of	O
the	O
stem-and-leaf	B-Application
display	I-Application
with	O
the	O
leaves	O
unsorted	O
,	O
then	O
sorting	O
the	O
leaves	O
to	O
produce	O
the	O
final	O
stem-and-leaf	B-Application
display	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
stem-and-leaf	B-Application
display	I-Application
is	O
drawn	O
with	O
two	O
columns	O
separated	O
by	O
a	O
vertical	O
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rounding	O
may	O
be	O
needed	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
stem-and-leaf	B-Application
display	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Based	O
on	O
the	O
following	O
set	O
of	O
data	O
,	O
the	O
stem	B-Application
plot	I-Application
below	O
would	O
be	O
created	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allowed	O
the	O
stem	B-Application
and	I-Application
leaf	I-Application
plot	I-Application
to	O
retain	O
its	O
shape	O
,	O
even	O
for	O
more	O
complicated	O
data	O
sets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stem-and-leaf	B-Application
displays	I-Application
are	O
useful	O
for	O
displaying	O
the	O
relative	O
density	O
and	O
shape	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
,	O
giving	O
the	O
reader	O
a	O
quick	O
overview	O
of	O
the	O
distribution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
stem-and-leaf	B-Application
displays	I-Application
are	O
only	O
useful	O
for	O
moderately	O
sized	O
data	O
sets	O
(	O
around	O
15	O
–	O
150	O
data	O
points	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
very	O
small	O
data	O
sets	O
a	O
stem-and-leaf	B-Application
displays	I-Application
can	O
be	O
of	O
little	O
use	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
reasonable	O
number	O
of	O
data	O
points	O
are	O
required	O
to	O
establish	O
definitive	O
distribution	O
properties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
dot	B-Application
plot	I-Application
may	O
be	O
better	O
suited	O
for	O
such	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
very	O
large	O
data	O
sets	O
,	O
a	O
stem-and-leaf	B-Application
display	I-Application
will	O
become	O
very	O
cluttered	O
,	O
since	O
each	O
data	O
point	O
must	O
be	O
represented	O
numerically	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
box	B-Application
plot	I-Application
or	O
histogram	B-Algorithm
may	O
become	O
more	O
appropriate	O
as	O
the	O
data	O
size	O
increases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stem-and-leaf	B-Application
displays	I-Application
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
convey	O
non-numerical	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
example	O
of	O
valid	O
two-letter	O
words	O
in	O
Collins	O
Scrabble	B-Application
Words	O
(	O
the	O
word	O
list	O
used	O
in	O
Scrabble	B-Application
tournaments	O
outside	O
the	O
US	O
)	O
with	O
their	O
initials	O
as	O
stems	O
,	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
easily	O
seen	O
that	O
the	O
top	O
three	O
initials	O
are	O
,	O
and	O
.	O
</s>
