This activity is a slam dunk
The dataset includes the 2019-2020 salary data for 476 NBA players.
We know that you need to teach descriptive stats like mean, median and range, and this is a great activity that can be done right now for free with DataClassroom.
Your students can easily make the graph in seconds and spend their time thinking about which is the better measure of central tendency, mean or median, to describe the salary of an NBA player. You can use our discussion questions (included in the dataset description) or write your own.
A ready-to-teach lesson for mean, median, and range:
Activity
1) Try graphing Salary on the Y-axis of a scatter plot. Do not place any variable on the X-axis. Add descriptive stats showing both the mean (bar) and the median (box and whiskers) by checking the box that appears in the lower right area of the screen.
How do the mean and median salaries compare to each other? Is mean or median a better measure of salary in the NBA and why? Explain your answer.
2) What is the relationship between Salary Rank and Salary? If a player moves up in the ranks, how can he expect his salary to increase? Which player would you expect to see a bigger increase in salary on his next contract, a player that improves from being the 400th best player in the league to being in the top 100 players, or a top 100 player that improves to a top 10 player?
NBA player salary data from 2019-2020 season
These data were found at Basketball-Reference.com
The dataset contains information on the salaries for 476 professional basketball players signed to NBA contracts in the 2019-2020 season. Each row in the dataset is an individual player and each column is a different variable.
Salary Rank is the ranking of a player's 2019-2020 salary from highest paid (1) to lowest paid (476).
Player is the name of the player.
Team is three letter abbreviation for the player's current team city.
Salary is the amount in millions ($) that the player is scheduled to be paid for the 2019-2020 season.