Boxplots Outliers, how are there values outside of the minimum and maximum whiskers?

Question

I don’t know much about statics but looking at a boxplot there’s a minimum whisker to the left and a maximum whisker to the right. Then, there’s outliers laying outside of both whiskers.

If the minimum whisker marks the lowest value for the data, why are there values outside of the minimum or maximum whiskers?

In: Mathematics

Answer 1

If there are outliers beyond the whiskers, then the whiskers are representing something other than minima/maxima. One common choice is the smallest/largest data value within 1.5x IQR from Q1/Q3. A proper figure legend should state explicitly what they mean, though.