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Data Interpretation
Concept 1

2010
Introduction

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Prelims Paper II
 CONTENT 2

CONTENT

CONTENT ....................................................................................................................................................... 2
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 3
TABULATION ................................................................................................................................................. 4
PIE CHARTS .................................................................................................................................................... 5
LINE GRAPHS ................................................................................................................................................. 6
BAR GRAPHS.................................................................................................................................................. 7
VENN DIAGRAMS .......................................................................................................................................... 8
Solved Examples ........................................................................................................................................... 9

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 INTRODUCTION 3

INTRODUCTION

Interpretation of various types of data and making use of the interpretation to arrive at a certain
conclusion is a critical but mostly expected task from an administrator / manager. Data can be arranged
in number of ways to accommodate large volumes in a readable and understandable form.

To make sense of the organized and compactly arranged data is the result of Data Interpretation
activity.

Methods for Data Representation

Data can be represented by –

Tabulations

Pie Charts

Line Graphs

Bar Graphs

Venn Diagrams

Let us look at the different ways to represent data in more details.

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 TABULATION 4

TABULATION

This is simply the data collection and arranging the data in a systematic form in a table. It might
be a data about profits of a company over the years, employee’s salaries, crop yields, imports
and exports, countries and capitals etc.

Example:

COUNTRY CAPITAL LONGITUDE LATITUDE

Argentina Buenes Aires 34 S 58 E
Australia Canberra 35S 149 E
Austria Vienna 48N 16 E
Bulgaria Sofia 42N 23 E
Brazil Brasilia 15S 48 E
Canada Ottawa 45N 75 E
Cambodia Phnom Penh 11N 105 E
Equador Quito 0S 78 E
Ghana Accra 5N 1E

We can have the following information from the above table –

a. Location of the given cities
b. Location of the given countries
c. Names of the countries and their capitals

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 PIE CHARTS 5

PIE CHARTS

Pie chart (or a circle graph) is a circular chart divided into sectors, illustrating proportion. In a
pie chart, the arc length of each sector (and consequently its central angle and area), is
proportional to the quantity it represents. It is a simplest form of data representation.

The sectors of the circle are constructed in such a way that each sector is proportional to the
corresponding data value. You need to know the Geometrical Formulae as below –

In the adjacent figure –

c = angle of the arc OR centre angle in degrees

r = Radius of the circle
L = Length of the arc

Then –
2𝜋𝑐
Length of the arc = 𝐿 = 𝑟 × (360)

Example:

We can have the following information from the above Pie Chart –
a. Which sector has the maximum growth
b. Which industry has a negative growth
c. Rate of growth of one industry over another

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 LINE GRAPHS 6

LINE GRAPHS

These are Two Dimensional Graphs and also known as Cartesian Graphs. These types of graphs
are useful in identifying trends, view growth rates against expectations etc.

Example:

Daily Temperature
100
85
90 80
75 95
80 70
70 75
Temperature

60
50
40 2008
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6
Days

The above graph shows the temperature variation on a daily basis.

We can have the following information from –

1. What is the min/max/avg. temperature

2. What is the percentile increase in the temperature

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 BAR GRAPHS 7

BAR GRAPHS

Similar with the Line Graphs, Bar Graphs are also Two Dimensional Graphs. This type of graphs is
more useful to comparison. The data is collected for a particular discipline. Measuring parameters
are plotted against x and y axis.

Example:

Car Production
100 95
90 85
80
75 75
Quantity in thousands

80 70
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
A1

A2

A3

A4

A5

A6
Year

The above graph shows Car Production since 2001-02.

We can have the following information

a. Production is increased or decreased and how many times in any particular year
b. Increase or decrease over past years
c. Ratio of the production for any two years

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 VENN DIAGRAMS 8

VENN DIAGRAMS

These diagrams are based on the Sets Concept. These are used when there are different sets of data and
each set follow a particular rule. With the help of Set Rules we can derived new data sets and give
answers to the questions.

From the figure we can have the below information –

a. How many students are there for any particular subject

b. How many students are there for multiple subjects

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 Solved Examples 9

Solved Examples

Ex. 1) A Company has been tracking the number of visitors to their corporate office? The service
provider has provided them with the following data on the country of origin of the visitors and the
university they belong to:
Number of visitors and Universities
Number of visitors and Countries
University Month
ountry Month
JAN FEB MARCH
JAN FEB MARCH
University A 1 0 0
Canada 2 0 0
University B 2 0 0
Australia 1 1 0
University C 0 1 0
India 1 2 0
University D 0 0 2
United Kingdom 2 0 2
University E 1 0 0
USA 1 0 1
University F 1 0 1
University G 2 0 0
University H 0 2 0

1. To which country does University E belong?

a. India or Australia but not USA c. Australia or USA but not India
b. India or USA but not Australia d. India or USA but not UK

2. University A can belong to

a. UK c. Australia
b. Canada d. USA

3. Which among the listed countries can possibly host three of the eight listed universities?
a. None c. Only India
b. Only UK d. Both India and UK

4. Visitors from how many universities from UK visited the company from Jan to March?
a. 1 c. 3
b. 2 d. 4

Solutions:

First compare the two tables. We can get the following conclusions –
 University D corresponds to United Kingdom
 University F corresponds to USA
 From the figures of the month FEB – University H corresponds to India

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 Solved Examples 10

 From the figures of the month FEB – University C corresponds to Australia

 India or Australia can take university A or university E.
 University B and G belongs to either UK or Canada (But only one)

Ex. 2) The Bar Graph given below shows gives the sales of books (in thousand numbers) from six
branches of publishing houses during two consecutive years 2008 and 2009. Answer the questions
based on the graph.

Sales of books from six branches (A1 to A6) in the year 2008
and 2009
120
110
100
90
80
70
60 2008
50 2009
40
30
20
10
0
A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6

1. Total sales of branches A1, A3 and A5 together for both the years (in thousand numbers) is:
a. 250 c. 435
b. 310 d. 560

2. A total sale of the branch A6 for both the years is what percent of the total sales of the branch
A3 for both the years?
a. 68.54% c. 73.17%
b. 71.11% d. 75.55

3. What is the average sale of all the branches (in thousand numbers) for the year 2009?
a. 73 c. 83
b. 80 d. 88

4. What is the ratio of total sales of the branch A2 for both the years to the total sales of branch A4
for both years?
a. 2:3 c. 5:7
b. 7:9 d. 4:7

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 Solved Examples 11

Solutions:

1. Total Sales of branches - A1, A3 and A5 for both years

= (80+105) + (95+110) + (75+95)

= 560

(70+80)
2. Percentage = (95+110) X 100 = 73.17 %

80+75+95+85+75+70
3. Avg. sale of all branches for 2008 = 6
= 80

75+65 140 7
4. Required Ratio = == ==
85+95 180 9

Ex. 3) Given below the crime rate of two cities, based on the information provided answer the questions
below.

1. Which year of the following did California have the least number of cases?
a. 1960 c. 1970
b. 1975 d. 1980

2. How many cases were registered in NY and CAL in 1950?

a. 275 c. 320
b. 325 d. 290

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 Solved Examples 12

Ex. 4) Answer the question based on the below graph

1. By what percentage are the highest monthly retail sales higher than the lowest monthly retail
sales in 1996?
a. 25% c. 42.8%
b. 36.6% d. 48.8%

2. What is the percentage of difference between the maximum variation over the years for 1998
and 1991
a. 25% c. 8%
b. 15% d. None

Solutions:

1. The variation is 75000. The % of variation is (100/175000)x75000=(100) ((3/7). = 300/7

approximately it is 42.8%.

2. The variation in 1991= 55000. The variation in 1998 =65000. The percentage of difference
between the maximum variation over the years for 1998 and 1991= (10000/55000) (100) =
200/11 = 18 2/11%.

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 Solved Examples 13

Ex. 5) Use the information provided in the two pie charts provided below. The total contribution to the
GDP by the seven sectors mentioned in the pie charts in the year 1999 was Rs.289640 crores and
Rs.317000 crores in the year 2000.

Contribution to GDP by Industries in Contribution to GDP by Industries in

1999 2000

1. Which of the industry sectors witnessed the maximum rate of growth during the period 1999-
2000?
a. Petroleum c. Ad & media
b. Software & IT d. Cement

2. Which of the industry sectors witnessed a negative growth during the period 1999-2000?
a. Auto c. Steel
b. Defence d. Petroleum

3. What was the rate of growth witnessed by the Software & IT sector during this period?
a. 1% c. 33%
b. 12% d. 22%

4. What was the rate of growth witnessed by the Petroleum sector during this period?
a. 1.1% c. 7.5%
b. 12% d. - 8%

5. What was the rate of growth shown by the non-petroleum sectors between 1999 - 2000?
a. - 4% c. 7%
b. 4% d. 12%

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 Solved Examples 14

Ex.6) Coach John sat with the score cards of Indian players from the 3 games in a one-day cricket
tournament where the same set of players played for India and all the major batsmen got out. John
summarized the batting performance through three diagrams, one for each games. In each diagram,
the three outer triangles communicate the number of runs scored by the three top scores from India,
where K, R, S, V, and Y represent Kaif, Rahul, Saurav, Virender, and Yuvraj respectively. The middle
triangle in each diagram denotes the percentage of total score that was scored by the top three Indian
scorers in that game. No two players score the same number of runs in the same game. John also
calculated two batting indices for each player based on his scores in the tournaments; the R-index of a
batsman is the difference between his highest and lowest scores in the 3 games while the M-index is
the middle number, if his scores are arranged in a non-increasing order.

1. For how many Indian players is it possible to calculate the exact M-index?
a. 0 c. 2
b. 1 d. More than 2

2. Among the players mentioned, who can have the lowest R-index from the tournament?
a. Only Kaif, Rahul or Yuvraj c. Only Kaif or Yuvraj
b. Only Kaif or Rahul d. Only Kaif

3. How many players among those listed definitely scored less than Yuvraj in the
tournament?
a. 0 c. 2
b. 1 d. More than 2

4. Which of the players had the best M-index from the tournament?
a. Rahul
b. Saurav
c. Virendra
d. Yuvraj

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 Solved Examples 15

Solution:

From the information provided we can draw the below table –

Pakistan South Africa Australia

Kaif 28 51 <48
Rahul < 22 49 55
Sourav < 22 75 50
Virendra 130 <49 <48
Yuvraj 40 <49 87
Top 3 batsman 198 175 192
India Total 220 250 240

Ex. 7) Directions for questions 1 to 4: Answer the questions on the basis of the information given below.

Twenty one participants from four continents (Africa, Americas, Australasia, and Europe) attended a
United Nations conference. Each participant was an expert in one of four fields, labour, health,
population studies, and refugee relocation. The following five facts about the participants are given.

(a) The number of labour experts in the camp was exactly half the number of experts in each of the
three other categories.

(b) Africa did not send any labour expert. Otherwise, every continent, including Africa, sent at least one
expert for each category.

(c) None of the continents sent more than three experts in any category.

(d) If there had been one less Australasian expert, then the Americas would have had twice as many
experts as each of the other continents.

(e) Mike and Alfanso are leading experts of population studies who attended the conference. They are
from Australasia.

1. Which of the following combinations is NOT possible?

a. 2 experts in population studies from the Americas and 2 health experts from Africa attended
the conference.
b. 2 experts in population studies from the Americas and 1 health expert from Africa attended
the conference.
c. 3 experts in refugee relocation from the Americas and 1 health expert from Africa attended
the conference.
d. Africa and America each had 1 expert in population studies attending the conference.

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 Solved Examples 16

2. If Ramos is the lone American expert in population studies, which of the following is NOT true about
the numbers of experts in the conference from the four continents?
a. There is one expert in health from Africa.
b. There is one expert in refugee relocation from Africa.
c. There are two experts in health from the Americas.
d. There are three experts in refugee relocation from the Americas.

3. Alex, an American expert in refugee relocation, was the first keynote speaker in the conference.
What can be inferred about the number of American experts in refugee relocation in the
conference, excluding Alex?
i. At least one
ii. At most two

a. Only i and not ii

b. Only ii and not i
c. Both i and ii
d. Neither i nor ii

4. Which of the following numbers cannot be determined from the information given?
a. Number of labour experts from the Americas.
b. Number of health experts from Europe.
c. Number of health experts from Australasia.
d. Number of experts in refugee relocation from Africa.

Solutions:

To solve the question make the table as shown below –

Africa America Australia Europe

L 0 1 1 1 3
H 1 1 6
P 2 1 6
R 1 1 6
4 8 5 4
21

i. As the labour expert is half of each of the other, the only possible combination is –
L-3
H
P 6 each
R

SYNERGY STUDY POINT

 17

ii. Statement (d): If the number of Australasia expert is 1 less, i.e. total export are 20 American be
twice as each of other. The only combined possible is Americas 8
Australasia 4 + 1 = 5
Europe 4
Africa 4

With the above calculated data, let us now fill up the table again.
Africa America Australia Europe
L 0 1 1 1 3
H 2 2 1 1 6
P 1 2 2 1 6
R 1 3 1 1 6
4 8 5 4
21

Africa America Australia Europe

L 0 1 1 1 3
H 1 3 1 1 6
P 1 2 2 1 6
R 2 2 1 1 6
4 8 5 4
21

Africa America Australia Europe

L 0 1 1 1 3
H 1 3 1 1 6
P 2 1 2 1 6
R 1 3 1 1 6
4 8 5 4
21

Form these tables we can now get the answers as below –

1. Ans. d
2. Ans. c
3. Ans. c
4. Ans. d

SYNERGY STUDY POINT