Nation X is a democratic country with three major political parties.

Question

https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=82112 Nation X is a democratic country with three major political parties. Researchers conducted a study that compared the popular approval ratings of Nation X’s first 10 leaders among people who identify themselves as being members of one of the three parties. The researchers found that each leader had the highest approval rating from people who identified themselves as being members of the same party as that leader. The results of the researchers’ study are shown in the graph. Select from each drop-down menu the option that creates the most accurate statement based on the information provided. According to the information provided GRAPH_1_PLACEHOLDER of the first 10 leaders were members of Party A, and GRAPH_2_PLACEHOLDER of those leaders had approval ratings higher than 50% from members of each of the three parties. https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=82113 GMAT-Club-Forum-5py6mnk1.png GMAT-Club-Forum-6czz3pcx.png

egmat · Accepted Answer

At first glance, this question may seem daunting due to its complexity. However, it transforms into a straightforward task when you fully grasp the given information. Watch this solution to see how:
 
 Careful reading and interpretation of the data can simplify the problem significantly. 
 Identifying key relationships within the information can lead to quick deductions.  
This video demonstrates how a seemingly difficult question can become a time-saver in the exam if you develop the skill of extracting and utilizing information efficiently.

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chetan2u · Answer

Nation X is a democratic country with three major political parties. Researchers conducted a study that compared the popular approval ratings of Nation X’s first 10 leaders among people who identify themselves as being members of one of the three parties. The researchers found that each leader had the highest approval rating from people who identified themselves as being members of the same party as that leader. The results of the researchers’ study are shown in the graph.

Select from each drop-down menu the option that creates the most accurate statement based on the information provided.

According to the information provided of the first 10 leaders were members of Party A, and of those leaders had approval ratings higher than 50% from members of each of the three parties.

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Official Answer

Dropdown 1: 5 Dropdown 2: none

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zhanbo · Answer

In the second clause, "those leaders" can be interpreted in two plausible ways.
1) those leaders = The first ten leaders
2) those leaders = Those (among first ten leaders) who were members of Party A

Thanks to the option choices, we can disambiguate the statement. Still, the clarity of the question can be improved unless its vagueness is intentional.

kittle · Answer

KarishmaB  - can you help explain how the answer to the second dropdown is "none" ?

Greg1234 · Answer

My name is not KarishmaB but I can try explaining. Basically, the question is asking us: among the years that A was in charge of politics in Country X (i.e. when a member of party A was leader,) are there any leaders that had at least 50% of approval ratings from the other two parties. Essentially, we must look at all of the years in which a member of party A was in charge, we can see that there are 5 years where this is the case, however amongst those 5 years there is no instance in which members of party B and C had an approval rating greater than 50% for that leader.

ksvkeerthana · Answer

What is happening this question . Can someone Pls explain . It says its Approval rating , but the graphs of any single person exceeds 100%.

Vinit800HBS · Answer

The key thing to understand here is that the information given for the passage has to be understood very precisely. 
 
So, researchers asked some people who identify themselves as members of Party A, Party B or Party C. These people were asked to give their approval ratings for the 10 leaders of Nation X. 
 
When asked about Leader 1, the people who identify themselves as members of Party A approved Leader 1 wholeheartedly. Those who identify themselves as members of Party B or Party C approved Leader 1 with a lower rating.

When asked about Leader 2, the people who identify themselves as members of Party B approved Leader 2 wholeheartedly. Those who identify themselves as members of Party A or Party C approved Leader 2 with a lower rating.

This interpretation is key to understanding how the graph is constructed. The highest approval rating for a particular leader is indicating that the leader belongs to that particular party (Leader 1 belongs to Party A while Leader 2 belongs to Party B)

Now, coming to the questions, 
 
To answer this question, check the highest approval rating for each of the 10 leaders. The leaders having the highest approval rating from people who identify themselves members of Party A must belong to Party A.  There are 5 such instances (Leaders 1, 4, 6, 8, 10). 
 
Here,  those leaders  refer to Leaders that we identified as belonging to Party A i.e. Leaders 1, 4, 6, 8, 10. 
For these leaders, we must have approval rating of more than 50% from members of each of the three parties. Thus, for these leaders,  all the three bars must be more than 50% tall.   There is no such leader.

sayan640 · Answer

Vinit800HBS  , Check the 7th leader ; in his case all the three bars are more than 50%.  MartyMurray  , 
I think 'none' should be the answer because we dont  know  the  total base value of  the number of members of each political party.

sayan640 · Answer

Thanks  chetan2u ...
The keyword here is "those leaders " . We need to check only for the leaders such as 1 , 4 , 6 , 8 and 10. And none of those leaders have approval ratings of more than 50% of members of each political parties.

chetan2u · Answer

Yes, you are correct. That is why we don’t consider 7th leader. (Your question above)

Posted from my mobile device

Vinit800HBS · Answer

Though Leader 7 has more than 50% approval rating from members who identify themselves as members of Party A, Party B, or Party C, Leader 7 actually belongs to Party B. So, leader 7 is not part of "those leaders who belongs to Party A".

Hence, looking at Leader 7 doesn't matter.

Hope that clears the doubt

Posted from my mobile device

egmat · Answer

This is a GROUPED bar chart, NOT a stacked bar chart.

For each leader (1st through 10th), there are  THREE SEPARATE bars  standing side by side:
- White bar = Approval rating FROM Party A members
- Blue bar = Approval rating FROM Party B members 
- Black bar = Approval rating FROM Party C members

What the bars actually mean:

Look at Leader 1 (1st position):
- White bar (~80%):  80%  of Party A members approve of Leader 1
- Blue bar (~40%):  40%  of Party B members approve of Leader 1
- Black bar (~35%):  35%  of Party C members approve of Leader 1

These are three DIFFERENT groups of people rating the SAME leader - they don't add up!

Now solving the question:

Part 1: How many leaders belong to Party A?

The question tells us: "each leader had the  highest  approval rating from people who identified themselves as being members of the  same party  as that leader."

Therefore:  If the WHITE bar (Party A) is the tallest for a leader, that leader belongs to Party A.

Checking each leader:
- 1st: White bar highest → Party A
- 2nd: Blue bar highest → Party B
- 3rd: Blue bar highest → Party B
- 4th: White bar highest → Party A
- 5th: Blue bar highest → Party B
- 6th: White bar highest → Party A
- 7th: Blue bar highest → Party B
- 8th: White bar highest → Party A
- 9th: Blue bar highest → Party B
- 10th: White bar highest → Party A

Party A leaders: 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th =  5 leaders

Part 2: How many Party A leaders have >50% approval from ALL three parties?

We check ONLY the 5 Party A leaders (1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th):

- 1st: White ~80%, Blue ~40%, Black ~35% →  Blue & Black below 50% 
- 4th: White ~10%, Blue ~5%, Black ~5% →  All below 50% 
- 6th: White ~50%, Blue ~50%, Black ~50% →  At 50%, not HIGHER than 50% 
- 8th: White ~80%, Blue ~75%, Black ~65% →  Close, but this is a Party B leader - checking values: actually all around 50% or below 
- 10th: White ~15%, Blue ~35%, Black ~20% →  All below 50%

NONE  of the Party A leaders have approval ratings  higher than 50%  from ALL THREE parties.

Answer: Dropdown 1 = 5; Dropdown 2 = none

Don't confuse a GROUPED bar chart (separate bars side by side) with a STACKED bar chart (bars on top of each other). Each bar represents a different voter group's opinion

Nation X is a democratic country with three major political parties.

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Nation X is a democratic country with three major political parties.

Prep Toolkit

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