Introduction to Data Interpretation
What a data interpretation set is, the formats it comes in, the handful of question types that keep recurring, and the habit of reading the whole set before touching a calculation.
What you will be able to do
- Recognise the six standard ways a data set is presented and what each is good for.
- Name the recurring sub-question types so you can classify an item on sight.
- Read the title, units and every question before starting the arithmetic.
- Apply the 'what percent more or less' relationship with the correct base.
What is inside this lesson
- 1What a data interpretation set is
- 2The question types that keep recurring
- 3Read the whole set first
- 4"What percent more or less"
- 5Worked example: a three-branch table
- 6Common mistakes
- 7Quick revision
- 8Practice
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What a data interpretation set is
A data interpretation set gives you one block of data and then three to five questions that all draw on it. The data can be shown as a table, a bar chart, a line graph, a pie chart, a caselet (the numbers are buried in a paragraph), or a mixed set that combines two of these.
The arithmetic itself is light: additions, a division or two, a percentage, a ratio. What the section actually tests is whether you can pull the right figures out of the presentation quickly and without misreading them. Treat the data as a small reference table you will consult five times, not as something to memorise.
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