Q-Q Plots (Quantile-Quantile plots) are plots of two quantiles against each other. A quantile is a fraction where certain values fall below that quantile. For example, the median is a quantile where 50% of the data fall below that point and 50% lie above it. The purpose of Q Q plots is to find out if two sets of data come from the same distribution. A 45 degree angle is plotted on the Q Q plot; if the two data sets come from a common distribution, the points will fall on that reference line.
A Q Q plot showing the 45 degree reference line:
If the two distributions being compared are similar, the points in the Q–Q plot will approximately lie on the line y = x. If the distributions are linearly related, the points in the Q–Q plot will approximately lie on a line, but not necessarily on the line y = x. Q–Q plots can also be used as a graphical means of estimating parameters in a location-scale family of distributions.
A Q–Q plot is used to compare the shapes of distributions, providing a graphical view of how properties such as location, scale, and skewness are similar or different in the two distributions.
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