Wallaga University

School of Graduate Studies

_____________________________________

Training on Quantitative Reasoning for GAT: Focus on

Statistical Quantitative Reasoning and Related Concepts.

By
Gemechu Bekana.
Focus of the training:

 Introduction;

 Basic concepts;

 Descriptive Statistics;

 Measure of central tendency and variation;

 Measure of ratio;

 Charts/Graphs;

 Probability;

 Other Problems involving Statistical Concepts.

1. Introduction:
 The Graduate Admission Test (GAT) is a general aptitude test designed for
screening candidates who wish to pursue their post graduate studies.

 The GAT is composed of three sections:

a) Verbal Reasoning (60 questions);

b) Quantitative Reasoning (40 Questions) and ;

c) Analytical Reasoning (25 Questions).

 Each of these tests lasts for one hour and you will need to stay working on
the actual exams for three hours.

Quantitative reasoning:
 Quantitative reasoning - measures the test takers’ proficiency in
understanding and interpreting numerical data, solving problems, and
applying quantitative concepts.
• Quantitative reasoning questions focus on numerical data analysis, problem-
solving using mathematical concepts, and the application of statistical
concepts.

• In this training, we try focus on numerical data and solving problems from
Statistical concept.
• This training focuses on the analysis of numerical data, with an emphasis on
solving problems through the application of statistical concepts.

• Quantitative reasoning focus on the application of Statistics includes:

– Measure of Central Tendency (Mean, Median, Mode, … );

– Measure of variability (variance, standard deviation, range, … );

– Percentages, Ratio, age problems;

– Chart/graphs interpretation;

– Problems involving different statistical concepts

– Others.
Important tips for Statistical Data:
 Knowing the general concepts about statistics/data/.
 Understand the measurements:
– Numbers;
– Percentages;
– Ratio;
– Rates;
– Measure of Center (Mean, Median, Mode);
– Measure of variation (Range, Variance, Standard deviation);
– Others.
 Identify the key word or number as given and required;
 Identify the key data features in the word problems;
 Others.
2. Basic Concepts:
Statistics: Branch of science focused on data collection, analysis, interpretation,
presentation, and organization.

 Provides tools for summarizing datasets and making data-driven decisions.

Two main types:

Descriptive Statistics:

 Summarizes and describes dataset features.

 Tools: Mean, median, mode, range, variance, standard deviation, etc.

Inferential Statistics:

 Makes predictions/inferences about a population from a sample.

 Techniques: Confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, regression analysis,
ANOVA.
 Statistical data is applicable in nearly all fields of study.

 Fields include Economics, Agriculture, Education, Health, Engineering, etc.

 Data in these fields can be represented as: Numbers, graphs, charts, figures, ..

 Types of measurements in these fields are expressed as: Percentages, rate,

variations, numbers, etc.

 Understanding these key data features is crucial for grasping general concepts.
3. Measure of Central Tendency (Descriptive Statistics):

 Involves summarizing & organizing data so that it can be easily understood.

 Different types of Measures of Central Tendency:

⁃ Mean: averages of all data points.

⁃ Median: the middle value when data points are ordered from least to
greatest.

⁃ Mode: the most frequently occurring value(s) in a dataset.

 Measures of Variability (or Spread):

⁃ Range: The difference between the highest and lowest values.

⁃ Variance: The average of the squared differences from the mean.

⁃ Standard deviation: the square root of variance.

a) The mean/Average/ of raw data:
– is the sum of all values in a dataset divided by the number of values.
– The mean can be calculated from data in different forms.
i. Arithmetic Mean = Add all the values and divide by number of values.
Example 1: Consider the dataset: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.

 Solution: Mean = add all values/number of values = 108/6 = 18.

Question 1: A teacher has recorded the scores of 5 students on a math test as follows:
72, 85, 90, 88, 75. What is the mean score of the students?
A) 80

B) 82

C) 84

D) 86
Answer: B. 82
Question 2: A company has recorded the monthly sales (in thousands of dollars)
for five consecutive months as follows: 45, 50, 60, 55, and 40. What is the mean
monthly sales figure for these five months?

A) 50

B) 51

C) 52

D) 53

 Mean monthly sales = add all values/number of values.

 Mean monthly sales = (45 + 50 + 60 + 55 + 40) /5 = 50.

 Answer: A. 50
ii. Weighted Mean

 If 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑛 represent values of the items and 𝑤1 , 𝑤2 , … , 𝑤𝑛 are the

corresponding weights, then the weighted mean, (𝑥ҧ 𝑤 ) is given by

w1 x1  w2 x2    wn xn  wi xi
xw  
w1  w2    wn  wi
Example: A student’s final mark in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology are A,
B, D and C respectively. If the respective credits received for these courses are 4, 4, 3
and 2, determine the approximate average mark the student has got for the course.
Solution:

𝑥𝑖 4 3 1 2
𝑤𝑖 4 4 3 2
𝑥𝑖 𝑤𝑖 16 12 3 4

w1 x1  w2 x2    wn xn  wi xi
xw  
𝟏𝟔+𝟏𝟐+𝟑+𝟒
w1  w2    wn
𝟑𝟓
 wi
= = = 2.69. That is, Average mark of the student is 2.69.
𝟏𝟑 𝟏𝟑
Question 1: The scores obtained by students in a test and the number of
students receiving each score are Score: 80, 85, 90, 95 and Number of
students: 5, 10, 15, 20. What is the weighted mean score?
A) 90
B) 80
C) 100
D) 70
Solution:
1. Multiply each score by the number of students:
• 80×5 = 400
• 85×10 = 850
• 90×15 = 1350
• 95×20 = 1900
2. Sum these products: 400 + 850 + 1350 + 1900 = 4500.
3. Sum the weights (number of students): 5 + 10 + 15 + 20 = 50.
4. Weighted Mean = 4500/50 = 90.
Question 2: A company wants to calculate the average salary of its employees,
but it has employees in different roles with varying numbers of employees in
each role. The salaries are as follows:
Role A: $40,000 with 10 employees;
Role B: $60,000 with 5 employees;
Role C: $100,000 with 2 employees.
What is the weighted mean salary of the employees?
A) 62 B) 53 C) 63 D) 60

Solution:
1. Multiply each salary by the corresponding number of employees:
• 40,000×10=400,000.
• 60,000×5=300,000.
• 100,000×2=200,000.
2. Sum these values/total number of employees = 900,000/17 = 52.94
iii. Combined mean
 When a set of observations is divided into k groups and 𝑥1ҧ is the mean of n1
& group 1, 𝑥ҧ2 is the mean of n2 & group2, …, 𝑥ҧ𝑘 is the mean of nk & group
k, then the combined mean, denoted by 𝑥ҧ𝑐 , of all observations taken
together is given by

𝑥1ҧ 𝑛1 + 𝑥ҧ2 𝑛2 + ⋯ + 𝑥ҧ𝑘 𝑛𝑘

𝑥ҧ𝑐 =
𝑛1 + 𝑛2 + ⋯ + 𝑛𝑘

Example: There are two classes, Class A and Class B. Class A has 30 students
with an average score of 70 on a test. Class B has 20 students with an average
score of 80. What is the combined average score for both classes?
Solution:
𝑥ҧ 1 𝑛1 +𝑥ҧ 2 𝑛2 70𝑥30 + 20𝑥80 3700
𝑥ҧ𝑐 = = = = 74.
𝑛1 +𝑛2 30 + 20 50

The combined mean of the entire students will be 74.

Question 1: A school has three sections, Section A, Section B, and Section C, of
the same grade. The average score in Section A with 40 students is 75. The
average score in Section B with 50 students is 70. The average score in Section
C with 60 students is 80. What is the combined average score for all three
sections?
A) 70.50
B) 75.33
C) 80.33
D) 85

𝑥ҧ1 𝑛1 + 𝑥ҧ2 𝑛2 + 𝑥ҧ 3 𝑛3
Solution: Combined mean =
𝑛1 + 𝑛2 + 𝑛3

40𝑥75 + 50𝑥70 + 60 𝑥 80 11300

= = = 75.33.
40 + 50 + 60 150
Note:
 If a constant c is added to or subtracted from every value in the data set, the
mean increases or decreases by that constant:
 New Mean=Old Mean + c, for added;
 New Mean=Old Mean - c, for subtracted
 If each value in the data set is multiplied by a constant k, the mean is also
multiplied by k: New Mean=k × Old Mean.
Question 1: If the mean of a data set is 50, what will the new mean be if a constant
value of 5 is added to every value in the data set?
A) 55
B) 65
C) 45
D) 60.
Given mean = 50 and constant = 5; New mean = 50 + 5 = 55.
Question 2: A data set has a mean of 72. If each data point is decreased by a
constant value of 10, what will the new mean be?
A) 82
B) 62
C) 70
D) 60
Given mean = 72 and constant = 10; New mean = 72 – 10 = 62.
b) Median: represents the middle value in a dataset when the values are
arranged in ascending or descending order.

 Median for data: Steps to Find the Median:

• Order the data: Arrange the data in ascending or descending order.

• Find the Middle Position:

– If the number of observations (n) is odd, the median is the value at the
((n + 1)/2)th position.

– If the number of observations (n) is even, the median is the average of

the values at the (n/2)th and (n/2 + 1)th position.

Example: Consider the following dataset of employee salaries (in thousands of

Example E

dollars): 45, 50, 52, 55, 60. What is the median salary.
A) 50
B) 52
C) 55
D) 60
Answer: B) 52
Question 1: Assume that six employers, A, B, C, D, E, and F, have annual salaries
(in $1000s) as follows: 55, 60, 48, 70, 65, 52. What is the median annual salary?

A) 55

B) 57.5

C) 60

D) 62.5

Solution:

1. Order the Salaries: 48, 52, 55, 60, 65, 70.

2. Find the Median: The two middle numbers are 55 and 60.

 Median = (55 + 60) / 2 = 115 / 2 = 57.5.

 So, the median annual salary is $57,500.

Question 2: Suppose five customers, A, B, C, D, and E, are being served at the same bank
window. The following information is given:
1. Customer A is served 1st.
2. Customer C is served immediately after Customer A.
3. Customer E is served before Customer D.
4. Customer B is served after Customer D.
Which customer will be served in the middle position?
A. A
B. C
C. D
D. E
Answer: Possible valid orders are:
 A, C, E, D, B

 A, C, E, D, B

 A, C, D, E, B

Identify the middle position (3rd):

o For A, C, E, D, B, the 3rd position is E.
o For A, C, E, D, B, the 3rd position is E.
o For A, C, D, E, B, the 3rd position is B.
In the possible arrangements, Customer E is most frequently in the middle position.
c) Mode: The most frequently values in a dataset.
 To calculate the mode, follow these steps:
1. Organize the Data: Arrange the data in ascending order.
2. Count Frequencies: Determine how often each value appears in the
dataset.
3. Identify the Most Frequent Value(s): The mode is the value (or values) that
has the highest frequency.
Question 1: Consider the following dataset of test scores for a class: 78, 82, 85, 90, 82,
95. What is the mode of the dataset?
A. 82
B. 85
C. 90
D. 78
Answer A. 82.
Question 2: There are five teachers at a school, each teaching a different subject:
Mathematics, English, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. The number of periods per week
for these subjects is as follows: 5 periods for Mathematics, 4 periods for English, 3 periods
for Biology, 4 periods for Chemistry, and 2 periods for Physics. Based on the number of
periods per week, what is the mode of the subjects?
A) 5
B) 4
C) 3
D) 2
To answer the question based on the information in the image:
• Mathematics: 5 periods.
• English: 4 periods
• Biology: 3 periods.
• Chemistry: 4 periods.
• Physics: 2 periods.
To find the mode, count the frequency of each number of periods: The mode is 4 periods.
Relationships Between Mean, Median and Mode:
 The relationships between mean, median & mode is defined as Mode is
equal to the difference between 3 times the median & 2 times the mean.

 That is, Mean – Mode = 3 (Mean – Median) OR;

 Mode = 3 Median – 2 Mean.
Question: If the difference between mean and mode of a population is 48 and
the median is 12, then the mean is
A) 28 B) 38 C) 42 D) 52.

Solution:
 Mean – Mode = 3(Mean – Median);

 48 = 3(Mean – 12);

 16 = Mean – 12;

 Mean = 28.
4. Measure of variability:
a) Range: The difference between the maximum and minimum values.

Question 1: The ages of a group of 6 children are as follows: 5, 8, 4, 10, 7, and

6. What is the range of their ages?
A) 5
B) 6
C) 7
D) 10
Answer:

– Highest age = 10;

– Lowest age = 4;

– Range = 10 - 4 = 6;

– Correct answer: B) 6.
Question 1: The following are the scores obtained by 8 students in a Statistics
exam: 78, 85, 91, 73, 88, 94, 77, 89. If the highest score was incorrectly recorded
as 94 instead of the actual 96, what would be the new range?
A) 21
B) 23
C) 20
D) 25

Answer:

– The new highest score = 96.

– Range = New highest score - Lowest score.

– Range = 96 - 73 = 23.

– So, the new range of the scores is 23.

Question 2: A student scored the following marks in five subjects: 67, 82, 75,
89, and 95. However, the score of 67 was found to be incorrect and was
updated to 72. What is the difference in the range before and after the
correction?
A) 28
B) 5
C) 23
D) 20

Answer
Before the correction: After the correction:

• Highest score = 95 • Highest score = 95

• Lowest score = 67 • New lowest score = 72

• Range = 95 - 67 = 28 • Range = 95 - 72 = 23
Difference in range: 28−23=5
Question 3: In a survey, the ages of participants were recorded as follows: 22,
29, 34, 28, 31, 25, and 40 years. Due to an error, the age of 22 years was
recorded as 32 years. What are the correct and incorrect range of ages
respectively?
A) 15 and 18
B) 18 and 15
C) 10 and 15
D) 15 and 20
Answer: Correct range:
• Highest age = 40
• Lowest age = 22
• Range = 40 - 22 = 18
Correct range = 18
Incorrect range due to error:
• Incorrect lowest age = 25 (with 32 instead of 22)
• Range = 40 - 25 = 15
• Incorrect range = 15
b) Variance: Measures the spread of data points from the mean.

 The formula for the sample variance is given by:

𝑛
1
𝑠2 = ෍ 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥ҧ , 𝑖 = 1, 2, … , 𝑛
𝑛−1
𝑖=1
Example: Given the following set of numbers: 4, 8, 6, 5, and 7, calculate the
variance. Variance = 2.
Standard deviation: Square root of variance; indicates the dispersion of data.
 Standard Deviation: – is a square root of variance.

Note:

⁃ Variance and Standard deviation are always > = 0, non-negative.

⁃ Variance >= Standard deviation.

⁃ Variance is equal Standard deviation when variance = 0 and 1.

5. Measure of Ratio:

 Ratio is an expression that compares two quantities, showing the relative

size of one quantity to another.

 Notation:

⁃ Fraction: A/B

⁃ Colon: A:B

⁃ Word Form: "A to B”

Example:

 If there are 3 apples and 5 oranges, the ratio of apples to oranges is 3:5.

 If there are 12 red balls and 8 blue balls in a bag, what is the ratio of red
balls to blue balls?
Calculating Ratios:
 Simplify the Ratio: Reduce the ratio to its simplest form by dividing both
quantities by their greatest common divisor.
Example: The ratio 8:12 simplifies to 2:3.

 Proportions: If two ratios are equal, they are said to be in proportion.

Example: If A/B = C/D, then A:B = C:D;

 Finding Missing Values: Use the property of proportions to find missing

values. Example: If 2:3 = x:6, solve for x.
More examples:
⁃ Simplify the ratio 16:24.

⁃ Express the ratio 5:7 as a fraction.

⁃ Find Missing Values in Proportions: If 3:5 = x:20, find the value of x

Question1: The ratio of boys to girls in a class is 4:5, and the ratio of students
who like math to those who do not is 3:2. If there are 120 students in total,
how many students like math?
A) 75 B) 72 C) 70 D) 60

Solution:

 Calculate the total number of groups: 2 + 3 = 5 parts.

 Find the number of students per part:120​/5 = 24.

 Calculate the number of students who like math:3 X 4 = 72.

Question2: The bar graph given below shows the sales of books (in thousand
numbers) from six branches of a publishing company during two consecutive years
2000 and 2001. Answer questions (24-28) based on the bar graph.

Sales of Books (in thousand numbers) from Six Branches - B1, B2, B3, B4, B5 and B6
of a publishing Company in 2000 and 2001.

What is the ratio of the total sales of branch B2 for both years to the total sales of
branch B4 for both years?
A) 2:3 B) 3:5 C) 4:5 D) 7:9
 Different types of ratio:
i) Percentage (%) - is a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100.

• Steps to Calculate a Percentage:

⁻ Identify the Part and the Whole;

⁻ Divide the Part by the Whole;

⁻ Multiply by 100

• To calculate a percentage, percentage = (part/whole)X100%.

Note:
 The maximum value of percentage is out of 100.
 The sum of the percentages of the items within the same group equals
100%.
 Percentages can be converted to decimal & decimal can be converted to
percentages.
Conversions:

– Percentage to Decimal: Divide the percentage by 100 (e.g., 25% = 0.25).

– Decimal to Percentage: Multiply the decimal by 100 (e.g., 0.75 = 75%).

Interpretation:
 Increase/Decrease: A percentage increase or decrease describes how much
something has grown or shrunk relative to its original amount.

 Comparison: Percentages are often used to compare proportions between

different groups or data sets.
• Percentage can be calculated in different scenarios:

a) Finding a Percentage of a Given Number - To find what percentage one

number is of another:
 Percentage = (given number/other number) X 100%.

 Example: What percentage is 30 of 150?

 Solution: Percentage = (30/150) X 100% = 20%.

b) Finding the Value Given a Percentage - To find the value given a
percentage of a number:

 Value = percentage X given number.

 Example: What is 25% of 200?

 Solution: Value = (25/100) X 200 = 50.

c) Finding the whole value: Whole = (part/Percentage)X100%.

d) Increasing or Decreasing a Number by a Percentage - To increase or
decrease a number by a given percentage:

 Percentage Increase = 100% X (new value – initial value)/initial value.

 Example: Suppose the price of a product increased from $50 to $65. You
want to calculate the percentage increase.

 Solution: Initial value = $50 and new value = $65.

 Percentage increase = 100% X ($65 - $50)/$50 = $30%.

 Percentage decreases = 100% X (initial value – New value)/initial value.

 Example: Suppose the number of students in a class decreased from 40 to

30. You want to calculate the percentage decrease.

 Solution: Initial value = 40 and new value = 30.

 Percentage decreases = 40 – 30 = (10/40) X 100% = 25%.

Question 1: A jacket is originally priced at $80. During a sale, the price of the
jacket is reduced by 25%. What is the sale price of the jacket?

A. $50

B. $60

C. $65

D. $70

To find the sale price after a 25% reduction:

1. Calculate 25% of $80: 25% of 80 = (25 X 80)/100 = 20.

2. Subtract this amount from the original price: 80 – 20 = 60.

So, the sale price of the jacket is $60.

Question 2: The price of a laptop is $1,200. If the price increases by 15%, what
will the new price be?

A. $1,320

B. $1,350

C. $1,380

D. $1,400

To find the new price after a 15% increase:

1. Calculate 15% of $1,200: 15% of 1,200 = (15 X 1200)/100 = 180

2. Add this amount to the original price: 1,200+180 =1,380.

So, the new price of the laptop is $1,380.

Question 3: Ethiopian Airways is selling tickets from Addis Ababa to Beijing. It
has sold 40% of the available tickets and still has 420 tickets available to sell.
How many tickets were original available on this flight?
A) 535
B) 650
C) 700
D) 850
Answer: According to the problem, Ethiopian Airways has sold 40% of the
tickets and still has 420 tickets available.

 This means that 60% of the tickets are unsold, and 60% of T equals 420.

 We can write the equation: 0.6T = 420.

 To find the total number of tickets T, divide both sides of the equation by
0.6.
 So, there were originally 700 tickets available on this flight.
Question 4: Students ranked 17 from top and 13 from bottom. How many
students are there in class?

A) 30

B) 29

C) 32

D) 35
⁃ To find the total number of students in the class, add the rank from the top
and the rank from the bottom, then subtract 1.
⁃ This is because the student counted in both ranks is counted twice.
⁃ If a student is ranked 17th from the top and 13th from the bottom, then:

⁃ Total no. of students = Rank from the top + Rank from the bottom−1.

⁃ Substitute the given values: Total no. of students = 17 + 13 −1 = 29.

⁃ So, there are 29 students in the class.

6. Chart/graphs form of data presentation:
 Presenting data in a chart can effectively communicate complex information
in a visually appealing and easily understandable format.
Types of Charts

 Bar Chart

• Purpose: Compares quantities across different categories.

• Features: Vertical or horizontal bars representing values.

• Example: Comparing sales figures across different months.

 Pie Chart

• Purpose: Shows proportions or percentages of a whole.

• Features: A circular chart divided into slices representing different

categories.

• Example: Market share distribution among different companies.

 Line Chart

• Purpose: Displays trends over time or continuous data.

• Features: Points connected by lines to show changes or trends.

• Example: Tracking the stock price of a company over a year.

 Histogram

• Purpose: Shows the distribution of a dataset.

• Features: Bars representing the frequency of data within specific ranges.

• Example: Distribution of exam scores among students.

 Scatter Plot

• Purpose: Illustrates the relationship between two variables.

• Features: Points plotted on a Cartesian plane to show correlations.

• Example: Relationship between hours studied and test scores.

7. Probability:
 is a measure of the likelihood that a given event will occur.
 It quantifies uncertainty and ranges from 0 (impossible event) to 1 (certain
event).
 Let E be an experiment and S be a sample space associated with EWith each
event A in S we associate a real number designated by P (A) and called the
probability of A.
 Experiment: - Any process of observation or measurement or any process which
generates well defined outcome.
 Sample space: - is the collection of all possible outcomes or sample points of a
random experiment.
 Sample point: -Each element of sample space is called Sample point.
 Impossible event: -this is an event which will never occur.
 Mutually exclusive event: - two events A and B are said to be mutually exclusive
if there is no sample point which is common to A and B. That is, A∩B = Ø.
• Equally likely outcomes: if each outcome in a sample space has the same
chance to be occurred.
Basic Probability Rule:

⁃ The probability of an event A occurring is given by: P(A) =

Number of favorable outcomes​/Total number of outcomes.

⁃ The probability of the complement of an event A, denoted as A′ or Aˉ is P(A)

= 1 – P(A′)

⁃ If events A and B cannot occur simultaneously (they are mutually exclusive):

P(A∪B)=P(A)+P(B)

⁃ If events A and B are independent (the occurrence of one does not affect the
occurrence of the other): P(A∩B) = P(A)×P(B)

⁃ The probability of event A occurring given that event B has occurred is:
P(A∣B) = P(B)/P(A∩B)​
Question1: A bag contains 3 red balls and 5 blue balls. If a ball is drawn
randomly, what is the probability of drawing a red ball?

A) 3/8 B) 1/8 C) 2/8 D) ½

Solution:

 There are 3 red balls out of a total of 8 balls.

 The probability is 3/8.

Question 2: The probability of it raining today is 0.3. What is the probability

that it will not rain today?

Solution:

 The probability of not raining is 1 − 0.3 = 0.7

Tips for the Exam:

 Practice Problem-Solving: Focus on practicing a wide range of problems.

 Memorize Key Formulas: Keep the most important formulas at your

fingertips.

 Understand Concepts: Don’t just memorize—understand why and how

formulas work.

 Time Management: Practice under timed conditions to improve speed and

accuracy.

Good luck with your preparation!

 The End
Thank You!