Data Interpretation
Data Interpretation
Data Interpretation
Data Interpretation
Data Interpretation is one of the easy putting them to use directly with com-
sections of one day competitive Examinations. mon sense.
It is an extension of Mathematical skill and 4 . Breakdown lengthy questions into smaller
accuracy. Data interpretation is nothing but parts and eliminate impossible choices.
drawing conclusions and inferences from a 5 . Use only the information given and your
comprehensive data presented numerically in knowledge of everyday facts, such as the
tabular form by means of an illustration, viz.
number of hours in a day, to answer
Graphs, Pie Chart etc. Thus the act of the questions based on tables and
organising and interpreting data to get mean- graphs.
ingful information is Data Interpretation.
6 . Answer the questions asked and not what
A good grasp of basic geometric as well
you think the questions should be.
as arithmetic formulae is must to score high
in this section. Familiarity with graphical rep- 7 . Be careful while dealing with units.
resentation of data like Venn diagrams, graphs, 8 . To make reading easier and to avoid er-
pie charts, histogram, polygon etc. should be rors observe graphs keeping them
thought. Once the data are grasped well, ques- straight.
tions based on tables and graphs take little 9 . Be prepared to apply basic mathematical
time. rules, principles and formulae.
In some competitive examinations data 1 0 . Since one of the major benefits of graphs
are presented in more than one table or graphs. and tables is that they present data in a
The aim is to test not only quantitative skill form that enables you to readily make
but also relative, comparative and analytical comparisons, use this visual attribute of
ability. The crux of the matter is to find a rela- graphs and tables to help you answer the
tionship between the two tables or graphs questions. Where possible, use your eyes
before attempting the questions. instead of your computational skills.
Some Useful tips: Tables
1 . Data Interpretation questions are based Tables are often used in reports, maga-
on information given in tables and graphs. zines and newspaper to present a set of
These questions test your ability to inter- numerical facts. They enable the reader
pret the information presented and to to make comparisons and to draw quick
select the appropriate data for answer- conclusions. It is one of the easiest and
ing a question. most accurate ways of presenting data.
2 . Get a general picture of the information They require much closer reading than
before reading the question. Read the graphs of charts and hence are difficult
given titles carefully and try to under- and time consuming to interpret.
stand its nature. One of the main purposes of tables is to
3 . Avoid lengthy calculations generally, data make complicated information easier to
interpretation questions do not require to understand. The advantage of presenting
do extensive calculations and computa- data in a table is that one can see the
tions. Most questions simply require read- information at a glance.
ing the data correctly and carefully and While answering questions based on
4) Cumulative Graphs : You can compare 5 . What was approximate percentage de-
several catagories by a graph of the crease in sugar production of unit B in June as
cumulative type. These are usually bar compared to April?
or line graphs where the height of the a) 8% b) 1 0 %
bar or line is divided up proportionally c) 15% d) 1 8 %
among different quantities.
PRICE IN RS
15% 1106 = x 1106 165.9 1 0 5 0 __________________________________
100
Total production in July 1 0 0 0 __________________________________
= 326+167+187+146+130=1136 9 5 0 __________________________________
9 0 0 __________________________________
15
15% of 1136 = x 1136 170.4
100 8 5 0 __________________________________
Total Production in August 8 0 0 __________________________________
= 327+150+185+178+145+128= 1113 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug
MONTHS
15
15% of 1113 = x 1113 166.95 167 6) What was the price difference between
100 commodity A and B in the month of April?
ie, in Month July, the Unit B has a contri- a) 2 5 0 b) 1 5 0
bution of approximately 15% in the total sugar c) 1 0 0 d) 9 0
production.
7 . What was the difference in average price
2 . a) Unit A shows continuous increase in between commodity A and B from April to
production of sugar over months. August?
3 . d) In Unit E, the pair of months that a) 86 b) 7 5
shows equal sugar production is April and May. a) 95 d) 8 5
4 . a) Total Production in June = 8 . In which of the following pairs of months
320+160+188+173+135+130 = 1106 was the price of commodity A same?
25 a) January - March b) May-June
25% of 1106= x 1106 276.5 units c) April- August d) July-August
100
9 . What was the approximate percentage
ie, Unit A shows more than 25% of the
decrease in the price of commodity A from
total production of sugar in the month June. March to April?
5 . 6) In unit B, the production in June = a) 1 b) 9 c) 1 4 d) 1 2
160 the production in April = 180 units
1 0 . What was the percentage increase in
Decrease in percentage price of commodity B from January to April?
a) 1 5 b) 2 0 d) 1 7 d) 1 0
4925
= 985
5 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Average price of commodity B from
11) In the case of how many years was the
April to August production below the average production of
the given years?
1150 1100 1100 1000 950
= a) one b) t w o
5
c) three d) four
5300
= 1060 12) What was the percentage drop in produc-
5 tion from 1996 to 1997?
Difference = 1060 - 985 = 75 a) 100 b) 5 0
8)(c) Price of commodity A in April = 1000 c) 65 d) 4 0
Price of commodity A in August = 1000 13) In which year was the production 50%of
Therefore, in April - August the price of the total production in 1993 and 1998 together
commodity A was same. a) 1994 b) 1 9 9 5
9)(d) Price of commodity A in March = 1125 c) 1996 d) 1 9 9 7
Price of commodity A in April = 1000 1 4 . If the production in 1999 will be above
Decrease the average production of the given years,
which of the following could be the minimum
1125 1000 125 production for 1999?
= 100 x 100
a) 1 0 50 0 0 b) 1 2 00 0 0
1125 1125
= 11.11% 12% c) 1 0 09 0 0 d) 1 3 00 0 0
150 x100
= 15%
1000
Rupees in Lakhs
35
tonnes. 30 30 30
Production in 1997 = 65 thousand tonnes
20
20
130 65
decrease= 130 100
Ho ckey
12000000 x12.5
=
15% 100
= Rs. 1500000
21. If the total amount spent on sports during
the year was Rs. 15000000, the amount spent
on cricket and hockey together was
1992 850 200 1614 402 750 212 614 170 801 270 4629 1254
1993 1214 315 1826 420 800 220 580 150 934 350 5354 1455
1994 975 250 1970 500 860 260 624 160 742 300 5171 1470
1995 820 196 1560 450 842 300 490 160 850 312 4562 1418
1996 1412 378 2120 625 1105 320 760 200 642 301 6039 1824
1997 738 359 3506 880 1240 308 640 210 962 400 7086 2157
1 1 . In which of the following disciplines was percentage of qualified to the appeared ones
there a continuous increase in the number of in engineering discipline the maximum?
candidates appeared over the given years?
a) 1994 b) 1 9 9 5
a) Agriculture b) Arts c) 1997 d) 1 9 9 6
c) Science d) None
Direction (16-20) : Study the following graph care-
1 2 . What was the percentage drop in num- fully and answer the questions given below:
ber of candidates qualified in Science discipline
from 1994 to 1995? Production of three types of vehicles by a
company over the years (in thousand)
a) 1 0 b) 2 0
c) 2 5 d) 5 0 Type A Type B Type C
1 3 . The number of candidates appeared un-
4 0 __________________________________
der Agriculture in 1995 was approximately
what percentage of number of candidates quali- 3 5 __________________________________
fied under Arts in 1994?
NUMBER OF VEHICLES
3 0 __________________________________
a) 4 0 0 b) 2 0 0
c) 1 0 0 d) 2 0 2 5 __________________________________
1 4 . In which of the following years was the 2 0 __________________________________
percentage of total number of candidates of
all the disciplines together qualified to the ap- 1 5 __________________________________
peared ones, the maximum? 1 0 __________________________________
a) 1993 b) 1 9 9 4 5 __________________________________
c) 1995 d) 1 9 9 6
0 __________________________________
1 5 . In which of the following years was the
1984 '85 '86 '87 '88 '89 '90
30 28 27
Graph - I 25 26
25
Distribution of Elements in the human body.
20
20 18
P r ot e i n
16% 15 15
Ot he r
dry ele-
ments 14 % 10
Water 70%
5
A B C D E
Companies
1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 4 6 . What is the ratio of companies having
more demand than production to those having
4 1 . What was the percent increase in export more production than demand?
value from 1983 to 1986? a) 2: 3 b) 4: 1 c) 2: 2 d) 3: 2
a) 100 b) 2 5. 9 c) 3 7. 5 d) 1 3 5 4 7 . What is the difference between average
demand and average production of the five
4 2 . What was the difference between the companies taken together?
pieces of garments exported in 1984 and a) 1 4 0 0 b) 4 0 0
1985? c) 2 8 0 d) 1 3 8
40
Legend
V VI VII VIII IX X
Standard