hajontakäyrä

The term "hajontakäyrä" is a Finnish word that translates to "scatter plot" or "scatter diagram" in English. It is a type of mathematical diagram that uses Cartesian coordinates to display values for typically two variables for a set of data. The data is displayed as a collection of points, each having the value of one variable determining the position on the horizontal axis and the value of the other variable determining the position on the vertical axis.

Scatter plots are used to observe relationships between variables. If the points are clustered together in a discernible pattern, it suggests a correlation between the two variables. This correlation can be positive, meaning as one variable increases, the other tends to increase as well, or negative, where as one variable increases, the other tends to decrease. A lack of discernible pattern suggests no correlation between the variables.

These diagrams are widely used in statistics, data analysis, and scientific research to visualize data and identify trends or outliers. For example, a scatter plot could be used to examine the relationship between a student's study hours and their exam scores, or between a country's GDP and its life expectancy. The visual representation provided by a scatter plot can make complex data relationships easier to understand at a glance.