Which statistical tool is used to provide a summary of the main data characteristics?

The boxplot is an effective statistical tool that summarizes the main characteristics of a dataset through visual representation. It illustrates the distribution of data based on key statistical measures such as the median, quartiles, and potential outliers. The box in the boxplot represents the interquartile range (IQR), which contains the middle 50% of the data, while the lines (whiskers) indicate the range of the rest of the data, and any points outside this range are considered outliers. This allows an observer to quickly ascertain the central tendency and variability of the data, as well as identify any extreme values that might influence the dataset.

Each of the other options serves different purposes in data analysis. A frequency table organizes data into categories and shows the number of occurrences for each category, providing insight into the distribution of categorical variables but lacking a visual summary of main characteristics. The Pareto diagram prioritizes items based on the frequency or impact of problems, following the 80/20 rule, which helps in decision-making but does not summarize data characteristics. The stem and leaf display presents data in a way that retains the original values while revealing the shape and distribution of the dataset, but it can be less intuitive for quick overviews compared to a box