Integrated Reasoning

Question 1

Multi-Source Reasoning:

Answer 1

Similar to RC but information in MSR can include tables, charts, diagrams, and test. You must integrate info from across these different resources (can only see them one at a time) to answer questions, typically 3 questions. In Yes/No, True/False, justified/unjustified etc. you have to answer all three parts correctly to earn credit. In these opposite-answer questions the questions can be very similar and answered simultaneously or quite different and must be answered individually.

Question 2

Table Analysis:

Answer 2

Sortable Table plus blurb with info. You have to analyze table information. One opposite-answer question and three Yes/No or True/False questions.

Table questions usually have quantitative focus, testing general statistics (mean, median, SD, range, correlation etc.) and fractions, decimals, percents, proportions, ratios etc.

REMEMBER: Positive correlation occurs when two sets of numbers increase or decrease together, e.g. as global market share of a company increases, U.S. marketshare increases as well so positive correlation (note: small anomalies in the numbers are OK if in general the two numbers increase).

SIDE NOTE: If global market share of a U.S. company is higher than its U.S. market share it means that the company sells more in at least one other country than in the U.S.

Question 3

Graphic Interpretation:

Answer 3

You will be given a graph (pie chart, diagram, bar chart etc.) and then you have to fill in the blanks in two sentences with drop-down menus. The two blanks may be related to each other or not but you have to answer both correctly to get credit.

Graph questions usually have quantitative focus, testing general statistics (mean, median, SD, range, correlation etc.) and fractions, decimals, percents, proportions, ratios etc.

Types of Graphs:

1. Column and Bar Charts
   Column chart shows amounts as heights, changes in heights; used to show trends over time, e.g. question might ask you to calculate percent increase or decrease from one time period to next.
   Bar chart shows amounts in lengths, changes in lengths; used for non-time comparisons
2. Stacked Column Charts:
   Two columns on top of each other; emphasizes the sum of two series of numbers; for numbers of separate portions of the stacked column you have to subtract.
3. Clustered Column Charts:
   Two bars right next to each other measuring different things that are somehow related; emphasizes which column is bigger at any point. For sums of clustered columns you have to add.
4. Line Charts:
   Similar to column charts but each number is shown as floating dot that are connect by lines. Lines don’t mean data is continuous.
5. Scatterplots:
   Used to show relationship between to columns of data in a table. You might be asked whether the correlation between the two pieces of related data graphed is positive (slopes up from left to right) or negative (slopes down from left to right).
6. Pie Chart:
   Shows relative sizes of “slices” as proportions of whole. Sizes of angles are proportional to item’s percent of whole. Pie chart can show only one series of data; two pie charts represent two separate series of data.
7. Bubble Chart:
   Similar to scatterplots but instead of two pieces of information for each point, there are three because the bubbles are expanded to varying sizes.
8. Venn Diagram:
   Similar to venn diagrams in quant.
9. Organizational Chart:
   shows hierarchical relationships within a business
10. Timeline:
    Show events in order, sometimes accompanied by a second smaller timeline that provides a zoomed-in look at one part of the picture.

REMEMBER: In line and bar charts pay attention to increments, i.e. by how much the numbers increase with each step on y-axis or x-axis. Practice to count in increments as you will need it. Here’s an example:

Let’s say the y-axis shows increases in revenue for two different companies in increments of 200,000. Then just use increments of single digits for now and later multiply by 200,000 to get the actual number. Let’s say your task is to find the annual positive difference between the revenues of the two companies, that means how much one company made more than the other. Pay attention to the way the question is posed to figure out which of the two companies the numbers should be based on, company A’s difference to company B’s or the other way around. Then jot down quick table for the months, assume the numbers are given in months and you are supposed to find the annual positive difference. So, essentially you are trying to find out how much more or less one company’s revenue is compared to another company’s revenue and you are given monthly differences through the two lines and you have to count up the differences in each month to find the number for all 12 months, the annual difference. Then go ahead and for each month write down by how many increments the different increased or decreased. Also in a row below keep track of the total difference up to that point by adding to the difference or subtracting from it because there might be months in which the difference was reversed, i.e. the company you are looking at actually didn’t make less but more revenue. So, in this way you complete the list and go from month to mount counting the number of increments between the revenues for each month and at the same time counting together the increments in a row for Total in which you either add increments or subtract based on the number of the new month. At the end you will be looking at the Total row only for the final number of difference in the annual revenue. You multiply the final number of increments by 200,000 and that will be the difference in the annual revenue. Note that you are eyeballing here of course since you are not given the real values in a line chart.

Question 4

Two-Part Analysis:

Answer 4

Least math-verbal integration necessary as these questions are primarily quant-based, verbal-based, or logic-based. Depending on question you may have to answer each part separately or simultaneously.

Question 5

Connection Between IR and Verbal:

Answer 5

some IR questions are similar to CR questions, e.g. may be asked to weaken or strengthen argument or also inference questions. BUT: in inference questions in IR section you don’t have to be able to prove the statement with the given information, but may have to involve some real world assumptions. So, you are inferring what is plausible, not what must definitely be true based on the information.

Question 6

Plan for IR:

Answer 6

Plan to get a score of 6. That means: Guess on 2 questions. That gives you 3 minutes to answer the remaining 10 and you can still answer some of them incorrectly to get your target score.

Process to answer (make sure to follow):

1. Understand prompt
2. Understand question
3. Plan approach
4. Solve

You can also swap 1 and 2.