Purpose of DI questions in CAT

Ask an MBA aspirant about the types of questions the Data Interpretation (DI) section of CAT contains and most will answer correctly that it contains graphs and tables. Ask them a follow-up to this question, viz. “What kinds of skills are tested by this section?” Most students will now flounder. Some will say that it tests your ability to read graphs, while others will opine that it evaluates your capability to make quick calculations. Their answers often lack an incisive understanding of the real purpose of this section.

Likewise, ask students how good they are in the DI section. Most will reply that it is an easy section (compared to the dreaded Problem Solving section or the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for some) but it takes time to do calculations. This kind of answer indicates the faulty approach most students often take while dealing with this section.

Listening to feedback from students about their performance in this section soon after CAT, projects a new dimension. Most students will claim that they have done fairly well while the reality may be otherwise. They get a shock when they come to know about the actual answers and blame their bad luck for their appalling performance.

Such questions and answers give a clear indication that most students have not, unfortunately, understood the purpose of this section and the approaches to develop proficiency in this section. Without such an understanding, attempting DI problems is like embarking on a journey without knowing your destination and the means of transport.

This article aims to explain the purpose of DI questions.

Unraveling the Purpose of Data Interpretation
Data Interpretation section virtually puts a student in the shoes of a Business Manager, who is inundated with useful (and not so infrequently with useless) data and has to make some quick interpretation of the data to reach important decisions. Once presented with graphs or tables, the mental processor of a manager starts whirring at the top gear and selects, prunes, manipulates, and compares the data and reaches certain conclusions. Successful operations of these processes require that a manager possesses qualities like:
o An eye for detail,
o An ability to focus on key issues quickly,
o An ability to work on numbers in different ways,
o An ability to see a trend,
o An ability to identify exceptional situations,
o An ability to work with logical relationships and
o An ability to reach a conclusion using deductive logic.