CRACKING THE DI (DATA INTERPRETATION) PART OF

COMPETITIVE EXAMS - THE FALLACY, HOW TO PREPARE

AND TIPS & TRICKS
Current Affairs 11:11 PM

Year
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012

Sales (Rs. In Lacs)

11
17
26
47
89

The question being asked is "In which year did the company see the highest
percentage
growth in sales as compared to the previous year?" How will you start? Think
before you read the
post below.

Interpreting the Data or Chewing the Data

The cartoon above shows that most of the time we chew the data. By
chewing we mean "most of you would have LITERALLY calculated the percentage growth yearon-year and
the year which shows the
highest percentage growth over the previous year is the answer". This is
what you would've done
(approximate values):
Year

Sales (Rs. In Lacs)

Incremental Sales

2008
2009
2010
2011
2012

11
17
26
47
89

-6
9
21
42

And hence the answer is 2012.

A) This is the first fallacy in Data Interpretation.

% Growth over
Previous Year
-6/11 = 54%
9/17 = 53%
21/26 = 81%
42/47 = 89%

Data Interpretation - The word itself conveys everything. You're supposed to

"interpret" the data and
not "blindly chew" it. The data given in the question was easy and hence you
could do it quickly.
Imagine if the data had been:
Year
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012

Sales (Rs. In Lacs)

11.325
17.875
26.437
47.896
89.776

Would you still calculate the difference between sales (incremental sale) and
hence calculate the
percentage growth?
Tips & Tricks
YOU SHOULD NOT. Because the paper setter wants you to "interpret" the data
and hence you're
supposed to calculate it quickly. Here's how you should do it rapidly:
Write all the fractions and see which is the largest (you're not required to
calculate it
ACCURATELY to 2-3 decimal digits) . The fractions are - 17/11, 26/17, 47/26
and 89/47 and the
output is:
Fractions in %
17/11 = 154%
26/17 = 153%
47/26 = 181%
89/47 = 189%
Let us note two things here:
1.

Although it's not necessary to find percentages at all, it is only done to show that whether you

compare a year's sale to its previous year directly or whether you find the incremental sale
and then
do this comparison, the result is SAME.
2.

The percentages are EXACTLY greater than 100% than all the corresponding percentages
because 100% = 1, which is Previous year/Previous year.

How to Prepare for DI:

This trick will save time and help you get answers without much calculations.
B) Second fallacy in Data Interpretation

When working with fractions, we have the tendency to find the values of the
fractions, when what
essentially we're supposed to do is "compare the fractions".
Tips & Tricks:
Data Interpretation is not about calculating the exact values (this is only
required when the options
are very close). It's about "approximating".
Let us say you're given the fractions: 5/11, 9/13, 5/9 and 7/11 and are asked
to find which is the
largest of all. There is no need to calculate all the fractions. To find the
largest fraction you should
know in which fraction is the denominator the least multiple of the
numerator. Here are two ways to do it:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

1st Way:
Take 5/11 and 9/13.
Cross multiply the terms.
So we have: 5*13 and 9*11 i.e. 65 and 99.
99 is greater i.e. 9/13 > 5/11
Now we do for 9/13 and 5/9: 9*9 and 5*13 i.e. 81 and 65.
81 is greater i.e. 9/13 > 5/9.
Now compare 9/13 and 7/11: 9*11 and 13*7 i.e. 99 and 91.
So 99 is greater i.e. 9/13 > 7/11.
Hence 9/13 is the largest of all.
2nd Way:
Invert the fractions: 11/5, 13/9, 9/5, 11/7
Now 11/5 > 2 and 9/5 is very close to 2.
13/9 = 1.4 and 11/7 = 1.5
Hence 13/9 is the fraction where the denominator is the smallest
multiple of the numerator.
Hence 9/13 is the largest of all.
How to Prepare for DI:
This trick will not only help in DI but also in Quantitative Ability in competitive
exams.
C) Third fallacy in Data Interpretation
Data Interpretation is ONLY about calculation. This is false. It's also about
logic and reasoning.
Here's an example:

The total sales are Rs 542 crores and total quantity is 4.231 lakh tonnes.
Question is: Which
country has paid the highest average price?
A normal person would do the following (let us say for Russia):
1.
Find 35% of 542 crores.
2.
Find 18% of 4.231 lakh tonnes
3.
Find the ratio of (1) and (2) calculated above.
And hence the same is repeated for all 4 countries.
Tips & Tricks:
Let us say you want to compare Brazil and Russia. You would do:
(20% of 542) / (25% of 4.231) and (35% of 542) / (18% of 4.231)
We can see that 542 and 4.231 are common terms in all the ratios.
We can just get rid of them. Thank god, wow we're left with:
Brazil
Russia
India
China
Hence the answer is Russia.

20/25 < 1
35/18 > 1
40/42 < 1
5/15 < 1