Interpreting Information
This page talks about the narrative/data-based syllogisms exclusively. For the syllogisms you encounter at the start of the exam, look at the page below:
Scoring
‘Interpreting Information’ follows the same scoring as Syllogisms, as follows
Each question is scored out of 2 marks:
- 5/5 statements correct net 2 marks
- 4/5 statements correct net 1 mark
- 3/5 statements correct or below net 0 marks.
‘Interpreting Information’ questions can come in the form of passages of text (narratives) or present you with charts/graphs (data-based). Advice for each separately is below.
Narrative Syllogisms
Narrative Syllogisms are different from Basic Syllogisms because you can and should apply inference. Treat these as True/False/Can’t Tell questions. Read the passage first, then the statements and apply as follows:
- If a statement is True, then the answer will be Yes
- If a statement is False or Can’t Tell, then the answer will be No
Instead of making logical links between sentences, you are reading a passage of text and realising whether the statements in the question makes sense from the information provided.
For example, a passage may mention that an online user leaves an ‘anonymous’ comment, and one of the statements is ‘The user wishes to maintain their privacy’. While it is not exactly stated in the text, this is a reasonable assumption to make and one you would be expected to.
Data-Based Syllogisms
Where there are calculations to do, these will be quite straightforward so do not make the mistake of overcomplicating them or looking for traps. The traps usually come in the fact that you have to apply statistical logic.
- Make sure the statement is talking about what is in the data. If it is a graph, focus on the axes only; you cannot extrapolate with no evidence.
- Focus on the characteristics of the sample, such as size and any bias in the sampling frame. Small samples are not likely to be representative.
- Be careful when it comes to extrapolating from here too: just because something holds true for the sample, it doesn’t mean it will be true for the entire population.
Language
Look out for the language in the question too. There are certain ‘weak’ words that make a conclusion more likely to follow.
- Might
- Can/Could
- Possibly
All indicate a possibility, therefore the statement will follow as long as there is no direct evidence to contradict this.
- Mostly
- Usually
- Mainly
All indicate loose trends, so even if one data point doesn’t follow the overall trend, as long as the majority do the statement will follow.