Conversely, a nonlinear shape implies that the data points form a curve or more complex pattern a negative direction indicates that the data points slope downward from left to right and a weak strength suggests that the data points are far from the line or curve. Step 1: Enter the Data First, let’s enter the following (X, Y) values for four different groups: A, B, C, and D. To interpret scatter plots in Excel, you need to consider the shape, direction, and strength of the relationship: a linear shape means that the data points form a straight line or close approximation of one a positive direction means that the data points slope upward from left to right and a strong strength indicates that the data points are close to the line or curve. Correlation is a measure of how closely two variables are related, ranging from -1 to 1 a positive correlation signifies that as one variable increases, so does the other, while a negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other decreases, and a zero correlation indicates no relationship between the variables. Interpreting scatter plots in Excel requires some basic knowledge of statistics and correlation. Next, let’s highlight the cell range A2:B9, then click the Insert tab, then click the Scatter button within the Charts group.

Creating scatter plot in excel