CAT 2016: Dont neglect Data Interpretation; know the right approach to questions on Multiple charts

Giving low attention or even slightly neglecting Data Interpretation (DI) in CAT 2016 can cost you more than leaving a few topics in other sections. As a result you may end up with low sectional scores in DILR section as happened in last year CAT exam when 99 percentilers could not score minimum qualifying percentile in DILR section and were not short listed by any IIM.

In the series how to prepare and approach the Data Interpretation questions in CAT 2016, Prof Nishit Sinha, IIM Lucknow alumnus and author of titles on QA, LRDI and VARC, published by Pearson shares insights on how to prepare, approach and quickly crack the questions on multiple charts in DI part of DILR section.

An important reminder about importance of Data Interpretation questions in CAT 2016 is that it commands 50% part of DILR section and 16% overall in CAT 2016. Out of the total 32 questions in DILR section, there would be 16 questions only on Data Interpretation which includes set of 4-5 questions on Multiple Charts.

According to Prof Sinha Data Interpretation (DI) questions containing multiple sets have been a regular feature in CAT and other MBA entrance examinations. A single set of questions may contain any combination of multiple charts like Table, pie chart, line chart, bar chart etc.

The learning through this article In this article, CAT 2016 preparation expert Prof Nishit Sinha throws light upon how to handle DI questions involving multiple charts. Through this article, you may learn to solve DI questions containing two pie-charts and one bar chart. It is advisable that before you look at the explanatory solutions, you have attempted the questions on your own.

What do the multiple charts contain There are two pie charts depicting the percentage composition / contribution of different streams / faculty from a state. Bar chart provides the total number of students in those two years (including other two years). There are questions that require you to compare the values of a particular stream across the two years. You may expect pie chart based percentage calculations in the whole set.