Overview: Data Caselets - CAT PDF Download

Caselets – Basic Concept

A Caselets is a collection of facts presented in the form of paragraphs. There are no tables or graphs in a Caselet. To answer the questions, you must read the information and create a table or organise the data provided. To master such questions, practise a lot of caselets-based questions.

Data caselets are included in the CAT exam to test a candidate’s reading, comprehending and interpreting abilities. These questions are a bit time-taking but are easily solvable as only basic mathematical concepts are used to answer most of the questions.

Caselets can be of two forms

• Paragraph based on Reasoning.
• Paragraph based on numerical Data.

Now to understand how to interpret the data we will use examples and try to find a step-wise solution that may help to solve Caselets questions in the exam. Before hopping on to examples keep in mind the following points that will assist you while devising a solution to the problem of Caselets.

• Read the paragraph carefully and recognize the variables around which the whole paragraph revolves and questions are asked. Note down all the important points.
• Try to formulate relationships between the variables pictographically using tables, symbols or Venn diagrams. Tables help to define multivariate relationships more clearly so try using them more often.
• Data interpretation usually requires numerical and arithmetic calculations such as averages, ratios, percentages etc. Be thorough with their concepts and use shortcuts and tricks for faster calculations, it will save you a lot of time.
• Do not assume information that is not given and use logic and reasoning to find out the hidden information that is given in paragraph.
• Do not indulge into troublesome lengthy calculations when approximations or relative values are asked. Calculate only what is asked.

Paragraph based on Reasoning

Caselets di questions of this type tests the application of various Reasoning concepts. So Few types of caselet for examples within this category are:

• Sitting Arrangement – In this type, few people or things are arranged, and information is given in the form of relative positioning. You are supposed to decode their positions and answer the questions based on that
• Games and Tournaments – Caselet di questions with the information of different players, rules of the game, and the number of matches played or to be played are given. You must interpret this information and answer the questions that follow

Paragraph based on numerical Data

This type of Caselets di questions usually comes under the Data Interpretation part of different exams. There are no set concept or type for such caselets examples, it can be any data from which information needs to be extracted. The next step is to form the Table and solve the question

Some Examples of Caselets

Example 1: A total of 1650 students are studying in an engineering college in different departments. The ratio of male students to female students in the college is 86:79. The college had a total of 5 departments which are mechanical, civil, electrical, Biotechnology and computer science. Total 198 males study in the mechanical department. 18% of the students study in the civil department in which male to female ratio is 5:4.
In the biotechnology department, 77 male students are studying and the number of female students in this department is 5/7th of the number of males. The total number of male students in the civil department is equal to the number of female students in the mechanical department. The number of males in the biotechnology department is half of the number of total male students in the computer science department. In the electrical department, the male to female ratio is 14:19.
(i) The number of male students in the electrical department is how much more than female students in mechanical?
(ii) Female students in the electrical department are what % of the total number of females in the college (approximately)?
Sol: First, a table has to be created containing all the relevant details.
Table 1:

Now, for filling this table, follow the below-given calculation:

• Total students = 1650
• Male : Female = 86 : 79. This implies that the number of male students and females students will be 86 + 79 = 165.
• Now, the ratio will be = 165 : 1650 i.e. 1 : 10.
• So, total males = 860 and total females = 790
• No. of male students in mechanical = 198
• 18% students study in civil department i.e. (18 / 100) x 1650 = 297.
• In the civil department, M : F ratio is 5 : 4. So, total males = 5 x 33 = 165 and total females = 4 x 33 = 132.
• Total females in biotechnology are 77 and total females will be 5 / 7 x 77 i.e. 55.
• As the number of males in the civil department is equal to the number of females in the mechanical department, the total number of females in the mechanical department is 165.
• As the number of male students in the biotechnology department is half of the number of male students in the computer science department, so, the number of male students in the computer science department = 2 x 77 = 154.
• Also, M : F in electrical department = 14 : 19.
• So, total number of males in electrical will be 860 – (198 + 165 + 77 + 154) = 266.
• Then, The total number of females in electrical will be 19 x 19 (female ratio) [since 266 / 14 (male ratio) = 19]. So, total females in electrical is 361.
• So, Number of females in computer science department = 790 – (165 + 132 + 361 + 55) = 77.

Now, put all these data in the above table. The table now obtained is:

Table 2:

From this table, solving the questions can now be extremely easy.
Sol:
(i) Male in electrical = 266 and Females in mechanical = 165. So, the number of males in the electrical department is (266 – 165) = 101 more than females in mechanical.
(ii) Total number of females in electrical = 361. So, females in the electrical department are (361 / 790) x 100 = 45.7% of the total number of females in the college.

Example 2: In a batch of 60 students, 50% of the students scored more than 80% and 70% scored more than 50% in a test. There were 10% of students who scored less than 15 on that test. How many students scored between 15 to 60 marks if the total marks were 75?
Sol: From this caselets, it is important to extract the necessary data first. If the total were 75, 80% of that would be- 80/ 100 x 75 => 60. Now, calculating the total number of students who scored less than 60 but more than 15 will give the total number of students who scored between 15-60 marks. Here, the data “70% score more than 50%” can be ignored.
Therefore, Students who scored > 60 = 50% of 60 = 30 —–(i)
Students who scored <= 60 = 30 ——(ii)
Students who secured < 15 = 6 ——(iii)
Now, students who score between 15 to 60 can be easily obtained by subtracting equations (ii) and (iii). Therefore, Students scoring between 15 to 60 marks are (30 – 6) = 24.

Conclusion

Solving caselets necessitates a full comprehension of the passage’s topic matter. So Carefully read the paragraph and consider what the inquiry requires. So it is Simply said, be explicit about what is offered and what is requested. While reading a caselet, try to highlight all of the key elements.