{"id":23475,"date":"2014-04-04T10:30:23","date_gmt":"2014-04-04T17:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/gmat-data-sufficiency-tips-a-breakdown\/"},"modified":"2014-04-04T10:30:23","modified_gmt":"2014-04-04T17:30:23","slug":"gmat-data-sufficiency-tips-a-breakdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/gmat-data-sufficiency-tips-a-breakdown\/","title":{"rendered":"GMAT Data Sufficiency Tips: A Breakdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/gmat.kaptest.com\/2014\/04\/04\/gmat-data-sufficiency-tips-breakdown\/\" title=\"Rubiks cube_dismantled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Rubiks cube_dismantled\" src=\"https:\/\/gmat.kaptest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Rubiks-cube_dismantled-300x227.jpg\" alt=\"GMAT Data Sufficiency Tips: A Breakdown\" width=\"200\" height=\"151\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/gmat.kaptest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Rubiks-cube_dismantled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3464 alignright\" title=\"GMAT data sufficiency tips\" alt=\"Rubiks cube_dismantled\" src=\"https:\/\/gmat.kaptest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Rubiks-cube_dismantled-300x227.jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"182\" \/><\/a>Data Sufficiency (DS) questions are unique to the GMAT. When first encountered they are cumbersome, confusing, and generally frustrating. Admittedly, Data Sufficiency questions often remain cumbersome, confusing, and generally frustrating, but such is the nature of the GMAT. After all, the better you do, the harder the test gets! However, thorough understanding of the characteristics and attributes of these questions coupled with a proven method of attack will allow you to handle just about anything the GMAT has to offer. In this blog entry, I will offer some GMAT Data Sufficiency tips to help you master this challenging question type.<\/p>\n<p>The prescribed task for Data Sufficiency questions is straightforward enough: based on provided information, determine whether a posed question can be answered. The structure of these questions is unwaveringly consistent: a question is asked, two statements of additional information are provided, and the five answer choices that follow are always the same (I\u2019ll discuss those later).<\/p>\n<h4>Data Sufficiency (DS) questions come in two types: <i>Value<\/i> and <i>Yes\/No<\/i>.<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A <i>Value<\/i> DS question<\/strong> asks for a numerical value (e.g., <i>What is the value of x?<\/i>). For information to be considered sufficient, that information must allow us to deduce only <b><span>one<\/span><\/b> value<i> <\/i>for <i>x<\/i>.<\/li>\n<li><strong><i>Yes\/No<\/i> DS questions<\/strong> (e.g., <i>Is x odd?<\/i>) merely want one of those answers, either of which is acceptable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For <i>Yes\/No<\/i> DS questions, it is that last bit that presents somewhat of a dogleg in the conceptual understanding of this type. Simply put, test takers must recognize and accept that \u201cno\u201d is a sufficient answer. Consider the presented example <i>\u201cIs x odd?\u201d<\/i> Now, if, through the provided information, we learn that <i>x<\/i> is not odd and instead <i>x <\/i>is even, then we would be able to answer the question. The answer would be, \u201cNo. <i>x <\/i>is not odd. <i>x <\/i>is even.\u201d Answering the question is all we need to be able to do.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s keep with the example for a moment longer. A <i>very<\/i> common misstep would be that, after learning <i>x<\/i> is definitively even, a person then concludes the provided information is <i>insufficient<\/i>. But why? We answered the question, didn\u2019t we? Remember: if you can unequivocally answer a <i>Yes\/No<\/i> DS question with <i><span>either<\/span><\/i> a \u201cyes\u201d or a \u201cno,\u201d you\u2019ve got sufficiency. Insufficiency is the result of information that, when evaluated, culminates in a \u201csometimes yes\u201d and\/or a \u201csometimes no\u201d response. Sometimes is not good enough. Always is mandatory.<\/p>\n<h4>GMAT Data Sufficiency Strategy<\/h4>\n<p>As with every question format on the GMAT, you <i>must<\/i> have a proven step-by-step methodical approach. Do this for every Data Sufficiency question:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Analyze the Question<\/strong> [This first step consists of three separate parts.]\n<ul>\n<li>Determine if it is a <i>Value<\/i> or <i>Yes\/No<\/i> question type.<\/li>\n<li>Simplify the question. [For example, if the question is <i>\u201cWhat is the value of m if n = 3t \u2013 2m?\u201d<\/i> then you would rearrange the given equation in the form of <i>m = (3t \u2013n)\/2 <\/i>since the question asks about <i>m.<\/i>]<\/li>\n<li>Identify what information, if it were provided, would be sufficient to answer the question. [In the above example, we would look for values of <i>t <\/i>and <i>n,<\/i> two additional equations using these variables, or a value for the expression <i>(3t \u2013n)\/2.<\/i>]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Evaluate the statements<\/strong> (<i>aka<\/i>, the provided information) using 12TEN. [I\u2019ll break down what <i>12TEN<\/i> stands for in the answer choice discussion below.]<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Note what happens when using the Kaplan Method for Data Sufficiency: you do <i>a lot<\/i> of work <i>before<\/i> you look at the statements. Such an approach is essential if you truly want to beat GMAT DS questions.<\/p>\n<h4>Data Sufficiency Answer Choices<\/h4>\n<p>Now, let\u2019s consider the answer choices. As stated, the five answer choices for DS questions are always the same. Step 2 of the Kaplan Method for Data Sufficiency uses a handy mnemonic that helps keep those answer choices straight as well as ensures you assess the statements in the proper order. Here\u2019s the breakdown:<\/p>\n<p>(<b>1<\/b>) The first statement provides enough information to answer by itself, but the second statement does not;<\/p>\n<p>(<b>2<\/b>) The second statement provides enough information to answer by itself, but the first statement does not;<\/p>\n<p>(<b>T<\/b>) Only when the two statements are considered <i>together<\/i> does one have sufficient\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 information to answer the question;<\/p>\n<p>(<b>E<\/b>) <i>Either<\/i> statement provides enough information to answer the question when considered individually;<\/p>\n<p>(<b>N<\/b>) <i>Neither<\/i> statement, when considered alone or together, provides sufficient information to answer the question. Additional information is necessary.<\/p>\n<p>As per the answer choices as well as Kaplan\u2019s mnemonic, it is imperative that you evaluate the two statements individually <i>before<\/i> assessing them together. After evaluating Statement 1, regardless of whether it was sufficient or insufficient to answer the question, you must pretend as if you never saw it when you take a look at Statement 2. The only time you use the information in both statements together is if each individually were found to be insufficient on their own. At that point, you are only deciding between answer choices <b>T<\/b> and <b>N<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>Now you've learned the nuts and bolts of GMAT Data Sufficiency. Keep this blog post open and use it to work through a handful of DS practice questions.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/gmat.kaptest.com\/2014\/04\/04\/gmat-data-sufficiency-tips-breakdown\/\">GMAT Data Sufficiency Tips: A Breakdown<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/gmat.kaptest.com\">Kaplan GMAT Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Data Sufficiency (DS) questions are unique to the GMAT. When first encountered they are cumbersome, confusing, and generally frustrating. Admittedly, Data Sufficiency questions often remain cumbersome, confusing, and generally frustrating,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,558,243,940],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat","category-kaplan-blog","category-blog","category-gmat-prep-gmat","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}