How to Solve Data Interpretation Easly - Everything Explained

Dear Readers,

The Preliminary phase of the IBPS PO/MT Exam 2016 started from yesterday. As you all are well aware, 2 sets of Data Interpretation questions were asked in each slot. Today we are going to provide you some information to help you all understand this topic better.

Data Interpretation is a major part of Quantitative Aptitude section for any banking exam. Now, first and foremost, What does Data Interpretation exactly mean?


Interpretation is the process of making sense of numerical data that has been collected, analysed, and presented.Interpreting data is an important critical thinking skill that helps you comprehend text books, graphs and tables

Majority of questions asked in the Data Interpretation Section are based on the following topics of the Arithmetic Section -

  1. Ratios
  2. Averages
  3. Percentages

If the basics of these topics are clear, attempting DI in the exams becomes comparatively easy.
Now, let us go through the types of DI graphs/charts that you may encounter in the exams -
  1. Pie Charts
  2. Line Charts
  3. 3. Bar Graphs
  4. Tabular Charts
  5. Mixed Graphs
We shall now have a look at the types of questions that are asked under these Data Interpretation Graphs -

Consider the following data presented in the bar graph -
Percentage of Students who like different sports in two different years is provided in the following graph. Total number of Students is 1000 for both the years.

Now the following types of questions may be asked from this data -

1. Sum or Difference based DI Questions -

These are the most basic questions that may be asked in a DI set. For instance,
What was the sum of total number of students who like Badminton and Cricket in bothe the years?
Now for such questions, first find the number of students who like the two sports in the two years -
2011 - Badminton = (12/100) * 1000 = 120
            Cricket = (45/100) * 1000 = 450
            Total = 570
2012 - Badminton = (20/100) * 1000 = 200
            Cricket = (37/100) * 1000 = 370
            Total = 570
Sum = 570 + 570 = 1140

2. Averages based Questions DI Questions-

Average based questions are very commonly asked in the Data Interpretation sets. For instance,
What is the average number of students who like badminton, cricket and football in 2011?
Total students who like badminton, cricket and football in 2011 = (12 + 45 + 22) = 79% of 1000
Required average = 790/3

3. Ratio based question DI Questions-

Another arithmetic operation based question that may be asked is Ratio based.
Now, these questions may be asked directly or in combination with above. For instance,
What is the ratio of the students who like football and tennis in 2011 and those who like  volleyball and squash in 2012?
Students who like football and tennis in 2011= (22 + 4) = 26% of 1000
Students who like volleyball and squash in 2012 = (10 + 5) = 15% of 1000
Remember for such questions, you do not need to do the entire calculation, because such numbers will eventually cancel out while calculating the ratios.
Required ratio = (26% of 1000) : (15% of 1000) = 26 : 15

4. Percentage based question DI Questions-

These are yet other arithmetic problems that are usually asked in DI questions.
These problems again may be asked individually or in combination with the sum or difference based problems. For instance,
The students who like badminton and squash in 2011 is what percent of the students who like football and swimming in 2011?
Students who like badminton and squash in 2011 = (12 + 2) = 14% of 1000
Students who like football and swimming in 2011 = (22+7) = 29% of 1000
Here again, do not calculate the entire value.
Required % = (14% of 1000) / (29% of 1000) * 100 = 1400/29%

Same data may be presented in the the form of other graphs as well, however, the approach to attempt the questions would remain same. You may find numbers in place of percentages or vice - versa, so do read the question carefully before proceeding.

Line Graph -


Tabular Chart -

Pie Chart -



One more variety of question that may be asked in pie charts is the angle based. For instance,

Q. What is the central angle corresponding to football and volleyball together for 2012?
Angle = (20 + 10)% * 360 = (30/100) * 360 = 108

All the best for your exam..



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