What part of the box plot indicates outliers?

The correct answer is that the stars or dots outside the main body of the box plot indicate outliers. In a box plot, the main body comprises the interquartile range, which captures the middle 50% of the data. Outliers are defined as observations that fall significantly outside this range, either above the upper quartile or below the lower quartile.

Stars or dots positioned outside the whiskers (the lines extending from the box) represent these outlier values, marking them as distinct from the bulk of the data. This visual representation allows observers to quickly identify any points that may be unusual or not consistent with the overall distribution, facilitating a deeper analysis of the data set.

The other aspects of the box plot, such as the lines extending from the box, the width of the box, and the median line within the box, serve different purposes. The lines indicate the range of the non-outlier data, while the width of the box reflects the variability within the interquartile range, and the median line represents the central tendency of the data. None of these features directly indicate the presence of outliers like the stars or dots do.