I plotted box plots for a dataset of >20 million rows. The whiskers came out with little arrows pointing towards the boxes:
What do they mean?
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$\begingroup$ It would be helpful if you could mention the specific software this came from. Best to also add the relevant tag. $\endgroup$– Stephan KolassaCommented Jun 2, 2020 at 14:45
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$\begingroup$ The major messages here to me are that you may be better off on a transformed scale and that you have enough data points to look more closely at the distribution using e.g. a kernel density estimate. $\endgroup$– Nick CoxCommented Jun 2, 2020 at 15:10
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1$\begingroup$ Those aren't arrows. They are horizontal lines (showing the fences) superimposed on individual point symbols (diamonds). $\endgroup$– whuber ♦Commented Jun 2, 2020 at 16:45
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It means nothing. It is a visual artefact of many black wheels overlayed on top black lines.
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$\begingroup$ I am also thinking of a visual artifact where whiskers combine with points. But why would the points be more like diamond shape than round shape? $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 2, 2020 at 18:08
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$\begingroup$ @SextusEmpiricus because of low resolution. $\endgroup$– TimCommented Jun 2, 2020 at 18:13
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$\begingroup$ I see now, the whiskers are not only a horizontal a stripe but also a vertical stripe. So the vertical stripe makes the circle a pointy shape. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 2, 2020 at 20:26