In this article, Nikhil Bansal, data interpretation & logical reasoning faculty at MBAUniverse.com and an IIM Lucknow alumnus, offers a snapshot of the areas and the preparation techniques.
Data interpretation
Data interpretation can appear in the forms of pie chart, line graph, bar graph or caselet. You have to understand what the data is all about. First, read and comprehend the question properly to understand what is being asked. Be careful about the unit. “One of the common mistakes that a candidate commits is answering in percentage terms while the real data is asked for,” says Bansal. The unit of the data can be real or in percentage or in fraction.
In order to excel in DI questions, one must be able to calculate fast and possess good number-crunching skills. “You need to remember fractions in terms of percentages and percentages in terms of fractions,” suggests Bansal.
Data interpretation has a very close relation with percentage. Having a good skill set of calculating percentage will put you beyond others. Apart from being a pro in fraction and percentages, you should know the multiples as well.
Logical reasoning
In the logical reasoning area, you need to substantiate your decision with logic. Comprehending skill is important for logical reasoning. You need to have the perseverance in solving. It requires taxing your brain a lot.
The questions in logical reasoning can help you solve real-time business problems. There are various factors which need a lot of reasoning skills and it runs in parallel. Bansal says, “It is a big sub-section in itself. It is a neutral playground for everyone. You will be given a caselet of which you need to comprehend the information correctly.”
In logical reasoning, you need to read between the lines. For example, if it is said that A is sitting next to B, it is not necessary that A and B are sitting beside each other.
Preparation for logical reasoning is quite time consuming. It requires a lot of hard work. A question can take a lot of time to solve. “Do not give up easily. Even if it takes a lot of time to solve, even a day, don’t give up. Once you solve it, it will be very easy for you to solve other similar questions and the timing will drop drastically,” states Bansal.
You should not worry about the time factor. CAT is more of a logical ability test than a time management test.
Data sufficiency
Data sufficiency is a hot favourite topic in CAT. Here, the question is followed with two hints, ‘a’ and ‘b’. Mind you, these are just hints and not options. Then the options would be as follows:
Hint ‘a’ sufficient to solve the question
Hint ‘b’ sufficient to solve the question
Both hint ‘a’ and hint ‘b’ are required to solve the question
None of the hints are good enough to solve the question
Data sufficiency is all about disconnecting two things. Deal with hint ‘a’ and ‘b’ separately. The common mistake which students commit is that they try to connect the two hints unnecessarily.
Preparation methodology
Start with data interpretation, logical reasoning and data sufficiency separately. Then take up the questions. You will find the questions merged. After a lot of practice, you will be able to solve the merged questions as well.
There are three steps to excel in the section:
Step 1: I know how to solve the question
Step 2: I know a better way to solve the question
Step 3: I have a better & faster way to solve the question
CAT is increasing the standard and the difficulty level is also going high. Accuracy is the most important factor. If you solve 40 to 50 per cent questions accurately, you can be rest assured to have cracked CAT. “Practise questions of new types. Do not be too much formula oriented and develop a conceptual understanding,” suggests Bansal.
About the author: Nikhil Bansal is an IT graduate from Delhi University and pursued MBA from IIM Lucknow. He is a trainer for aptitude, logical reasoning & critical reasoning and has trained several students and conducted more than 450 seminars. He also conducts online classes on DI & LR at MBAUniverse.com. He has worked with companies like Zee Education, Career Launcher, Knight Frank, etc. He is in the advisory committee of several B-schools and is also an adjunct faculty in these B-schools.
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