Overview: Graphics Interpretation | Data Insights for GMAT PDF Download

Graphics Interpretation Question Type

• Format Description: GI questions on exams like the GMAT involve a visual representation, such as column charts, line graphs, pie charts, Venn diagrams, scatterplots, bubble graphs, flow charts, organization charts, or strategy maps. These graphics are accompanied by textual information that provides additional context or details.
• Objective: The aim of these questions is to assess your ability to interpret and analyze the information presented in the graphic alongside the accompanying text.
• Task Type: After reviewing the graphic and text, you'll encounter two fill-in-the-blank statements. Your task is to select the appropriate options from a drop-down menu to complete these statements accurately.
• Scoring: In exams like the GMAT, both parts of the statements need to be correctly filled to earn full credit. Partial credit isn't awarded; accuracy in both blanks is necessary for scoring.
• Static Nature: Unlike other question types in the exam (such as Table Analysis and Multi Source Reasoning), GI prompts are static. This means that you can't manipulate or interact with the data presented in the graphic. You must rely solely on the information provided in the given text and graphic itself.
• Required Skills: Success in GI questions depends on your ability to comprehend the visual representation, understand the textual information, and logically analyze the relationship between the two to arrive at the correct answers.

Strategies and Concepts

• Visual Interpretation: GI questions revolve around interpreting visual representations like charts, graphs, diagrams, or other graphical information. Understanding these visuals is crucial, as they convey data in a condensed and often more comprehensible manner than text alone.
• Integration of Text and Graphic: It's essential to not only comprehend the graphic but also incorporate information from the accompanying text. Sometimes, the text provides additional context, explanations, or data that aren't explicitly shown in the graphic. Integrating both sources of information is key to answering accurately.
• Complementary Information: The text often complements the graphic by offering details or insights that expand on the data presented. This additional information might clarify trends, offer background context, or explain anomalies visible in the visual representation.
• Identifying Discrepancies and Synergies: Analyzing both the visual and textual components enables you to identify discrepancies or disparities between the two. Moreover, it helps in recognizing synergies where the text and graphic align, reinforcing key points or trends.
• Information Synthesis: Synthesizing the data from the graphic with the textual information enhances your ability to draw conclusions or infer relationships that might not be immediately apparent solely from the visual representation.
• Critical Analysis: Developing a critical eye for interpreting graphics involves questioning the relationships between variables, identifying patterns or outliers, and assessing the implications of the data presented in both the visual and textual formats.
• Effective Time Management: Given that GI questions have a static nature and a fixed format, managing time effectively during the exam becomes crucial. Practice helps in honing the skill of quickly absorbing information from visuals and texts to arrive at accurate answers within the allocated time.

How to Read a Chart

• Understanding Chart Elements: Start by comprehending essential elements of the chart. This includes thoroughly reading and grasping the information depicted on the axes and understanding any legend provided. This overview offers insights into the data's scope and the comparisons being made.
• Scale Clarity: Pay close attention to the scale presented in the chart. For instance, in the given example, the comparison involves currency values across a five-month period, not shorter intervals like days or longer spans like years. Understanding this scale is crucial for accurate interpretation.
• Approximation Adequacy: Recognize that precision to exact values isn't always necessary. For instance, in the sample figure, knowing that the Ruble/$ rate was around 57 in July or the $/Dinar rate was approximately 3.6 in September suffices. The options provided won't hinge on precise values.
• Focus on Vertical Scales: When dealing with multiple variables on different scales, ensure you're attentive to the appropriate vertical scales. In this case, distinguishing between the primary vertical axis for Ruble/$ values and the secondary vertical axis for $/Dinar values is crucial for accuracy.
• Avoid Overemphasis on Exact Values: Rather than fixating on pinpoint precision, concentrate on understanding the general trends, comparisons, and relationships between data points presented in the chart. This approach helps in selecting the most fitting options provided, which might not rely on precise numerical accuracy.
• Caution in Scale Interpretation: Exercise care in interpreting and differentiating between the scales for various data sets. Misinterpreting or conflating scales can lead to inaccuracies in understanding the relationships between different variables depicted in the chart.

Quantitative Concepts Tested in the Graphics Interpretation

• Absolute Change: Identify the numerical difference between two values or quantities that aren't expressed as a ratio or percentage. It's about finding the direct variance between the two figures.
• Percentage Change: Calculate the difference between two values and then convert that difference into a percentage by dividing it by 100. A positive result indicates an increase, while a negative result indicates a decrease in value.
• Determining Value Fluctuations: Analyze how the price or value of an item, commodity, or investment has changed over a specific period, assessing the degree of increase or decrease.
• Trend Analysis: Use trend lines to connect multiple data points representing prices or values over time. This helps identify patterns such as areas of resistance or support, indicating potential shifts in trends.
• Correlation Assessment: Analyze scatterplots to determine if there's a relationship between variables. Identify whether the correlation between data points is positive (moves in the same direction) or negative (moves in opposite directions).
• Basic Probability: Evaluate the likelihood of an event occurring within a defined set of conditions. Assess the chances of an outcome based on available data or conditions presented in the graph or chart.

Process of Solving GI Questions

• Data Understanding: Fully grasp the information in both the question narration and the graph. Details outside the plot area or in the narration can provide crucial insights. Understand how each element relates to others and use the narration to understand the graphic comprehensively.
• Comprehending the Question: Understand the two fill-in-the-blank statements. Mentally rephrase the questions to grasp what they're asking for. Remember, both blanks must be correct for full credit, with no partial credit given.
• Approach Development: Decide between a calculation-based or logical approach. Review the dataset, then assess the questions to determine if calculations are necessary or if a logical method suffices.
• Application of Approach: Before checking the options, try to derive your own answer. This helps troubleshoot if your answer doesn't match any provided options. Reassess the question's phrasing and the graphic's information to ensure accuracy before selecting the best option.
• Recording Calculations: Keep track of any calculations made as they might be needed for subsequent questions. Jotting down results helps in case they're required for intermediary steps in the following questions.

Solved Example

The PE Corporation has four warehouses that stock electric bulbs. The line-graph presents the number of cartons stocked by the first two warehouses, and an average stock of all the four warehouses for the months September to June.

Based on the given information, use the drop-down menus to most accurately complete the following statements:
(A) The highest number of electric bulb cartons stocked by the other two warehouses (warehouse 3 and 4) was in __________.
(a) October
(b) December
(c) February
(d) February and in May
(e) May
Ans: (c)
Explantion: Let us understand the question. The PE Corporation has four warehouses. In the graph, the black line represents stocks for Warehouse 1, the dashed-line for Warehouse 2, and the grey line for the averages of all the four warehouses.
Note there is no information about warehouses 3 and 4 (WH 3 and WH 4). However, you still can find information about their stocks.
As you know,
Stocks for WH 3 + WH 4 = Total stocks of all the 4 warehouses - Sum of WH 1 and WH 2 stocks
=> Stocks for WH 3 + WH 4 = 4 x Average stock of all the 4 warehouses - Sum of WH 1 and WH 2 stocks
Look at the first part of the question:
The highest number of electric bulb cartons stocked by the other two warehouses (warehouse 3 and 4) was in __________.

Looking at the equation, you can deduce that
WH 3 and WH 4 stocks = 4 x average stock - WH 1 stock - WH 2 stock.
You can infer that to get the highest value for WH 3 and WH 4 stocks, the average stock value must be the highest, as it would increase their values, whereas the WH 1 and WH 2 stocks should be the lowest, as these otherwise would decrease their values to a minimum.
Instead of calculating the values for WH 3 and WH 4 stocks for all the given months in the options, you can analyze the options by observing the graph.

So, the correct answer is C.
If you are curious, here are the stocks for all months.
WH 3 and WH 4 stocks for Feb = 4 x 205 - 160 - 180 = 820 - 340 = 480.
Similarly, WH 3 and WH 4 stocks for October, December, and May months are: 415, 365, and 410, respectively.
The following image can help you understand how to do the above analysis mentally.

(B) The lowest number of electric bulb cartons stocked by the other two warehouses (warehouse 3 and 4) was in __________.
(a) November
(b) December
(c) December and in May
(d) May
(e) June
Ans: (e)
Look at the first part of the question:
The lowest number of electric bulb cartons stocked by the other two warehouses (warehouse 3 and 4) was in __________.
This is a similar question to the previous one. You have to find the month that stocked the lowest number of cartons in WH 3 and WH 4, instead of the highest.
The strategy would be opposite of what you applied in the previous question.
Looking again at:
WH 3 and WH 4 stocks = 4 x average stock - WH 1 stock - WH 2 stock,
you can infer that to get the lowest values for WH 3 and WH 4, the average stock must be the lowest, as that would decrease the values, whereas WH 1 and WH 2 stocks should be the highest, as those, too, would decrease the values.
Inferring the probable values for the option months—November, December, May, and June— you can infer that June is the answer, as the average stocks for June is lowest of all the months, while the stocks for WH 1and WH 2 are high.
So, the correct answer is E.
If you are curious, here are the stocks for all months.
WH 3 and WH 4 stocks for June = 4 x 170 - 190 - 190 = 680 - 380 = 300.
Similarly, the values for November, December, and May are: 380, 365, and 410, respectively.
Take Away: Remember that if the average stock is the most positive for a month, its effect is four times that of each of WH 1 and WH 2 stocks.
Have a look at the following figure for more clarity.