Doubts regarding IR

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Doubts regarding IR

by hemant_rajput » Wed May 29, 2013 7:48 am
Hi Guys,

I've some doubts regarding IR :

1. Are all the question in the IR of same level or their level differ. Unlike Verbal and Quant, IR is not adaptive - this I know, but still I want to know do all the question have same Difficulty level or it change from question to question?
2. What is the no. of questions I should get right to be on safer side?

3. if I'm not able to complete all the IR question does it affect in bad way than not attempting question?

4. In lot of practice question I've noticed that some question follows the same stem - i.e. based on the same information. So is their any kind of hint be given in the question that there are more than one question dependent on this information ?

Any help is appreciated.
I'm no expert, just trying to work on my skills. If I've made any mistakes please bear with me.

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by Whitney Garner » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:32 am
Hi hemant_rajput!

Great questions - I'll answer them one-by-one below:
hemant_rajput wrote: 1. Are all the question in the IR of same level or their level differ. Unlike Verbal and Quant, IR is not adaptive - this I know, but still I want to know do all the question have same Difficulty level or it change from question to question?
The IR questions are NOT all rated at the same level of difficulty, but you are absolutely correct that the test is not adaptive. Basically, it is impossible to write 100s of questions of the exact same difficulty so there will be some range (if you use the GMAT Prep add-on pack you can even see that the GMAC calls their IR questions either easy, medium, or hard). The thing is not to get too hung up on difficulty. GMAC has indicated that there might be some score "forgiveness" for harder questions (might count more if you get them right, or count a bit less if you get them wrong), but there is not clear rule. Just do your best, and if you think a question is really hard, SKIP IT! That's right, guess and move on (more on this later).

hemant_rajput wrote: 2. What is the no. of questions I should get right to be on safer side?
There are 12 questions total for IR, and it appears that the number of questions you get right is "roughly" the score you'll get. So for example, you get between 8-12 questions right, you will likely get an 8. You get between 4-8 questions right you'll probably get a score between 4-8. You want to do you best, but shoot for a score better than the mean to be safe (the mean is about a 4.3 so shoot for a 5 or 6). This means that you want to get between 5-7 questions right - that means you have some room for skipping and making mistakes!
hemant_rajput wrote: 3. if I'm not able to complete all the IR question does it affect in bad way than not attempting question?
Timing is a MAJOR issue on the IR section - it is extremely tough to finish all 12 questions in the 30 minutes allotted. But remember, you don't need to get all 12 right and you don't even need a perfect score, so play it smart. Remember that you should be finishing 4 questions every 10 minutes. So maybe you decide to skip 1 question (the hardest ones you see) every 3-4 questions.

For example, if you get a Graphics Interpretation question and you don't know how to read the graph after 20 seconds, SKIP IT. Randomly guess the answers to the multi-parts and MOVE ON!

Many people think that they should just try to do as many as they can and then run out of time. While this certainly won't hurt you in the same way that running out of time would on the rest of the test, you're giving a lot of power to the GMAT. You're letting THEM decide which questions you aren't going to do (by simply running out of time). So why not play it smart - when YOU see a question that seems too though, skip it. That way you can work on those problems that YOU like!!
hemant_rajput wrote: 4. In lot of practice question I've noticed that some question follows the same stem - i.e. based on the same information. So is their any kind of hint be given in the question that there are more than one question dependent on this information ?
First I should offer a bit of IR terminology:

PROMPT: This is what the IR calls the information provided. There will be 4 types of these on the test, and you will likely see 10 different prompts:
- Graphics Interpretation: some sort of picture (line graph, bar graph, scatter plot, time line, venn diagram, flow chart, etc) these can really be anything.
- Table Analysis: a sortable table just like something you would see in Excel (rows and columns)
- Multi-Source Reasoning (MSR): a reading + data passage broken up across 2-3 tabs - you will have to click on the different tab headings to see the information contained on that tab. It could be emails, tables, graphs, passages, etc.
- Two-Part Analysis: This can be just about anything but reads like a story (think math word problem, little logic game, or critical reasoning-like argument)

QUESTIONS: This is where things get complicated. A question is the stuff that the GMAT asks you about each prompt. There are 4 types, and most of these will contain multiple parts that must ALL be answered correctly to get ANY credit. There are 4 different question types:
- Multiple Choice: basic 5 choices, you pick one (this is the only question that doesn't have multiple parts and you will see ONE of these when you see an MSR tabbed thing.
- Two-Part: this is tricky to explain but think of it as answering two multiple choice questions (question X and Y) at the same time, using the same answer choices. So first you'll think of the answer to question X and pick from the available answer choices, then you'll answer Y using the same answer choices. AND YES, you can have the answer to X and Y be the same thing! You have to get both right to get credit
- Either/Or: You will be given 3 statements and you have to choose Yes/No, True/False, etc for each statement. Again, you have to get all 3 right to get credit.
- Fill in the Blanks: You will be given 2 sentences with blanks, and each blank will have a drop down menu of options to fill in that blank.

Next, let's look at how these questions and prompts pair up:

Two-Part Analysis --> Two-Part Question (each prompt has 1 question, you might see 3-4 of these total)

Graphics Interpretation --> Fill in the Blank (each prompt has 1 question, you might see 3-4)

Table Analysis --> Either/Or (each prompt has 1 question, you might see 2-3 of these)

MSR --> (1) Multiple Choice, (2) Either/Or (each MSR prompt has 3 questions as indicated before, you will see 1-2 MSRs (this means 3-6 questions).


So I know this is a LOT, but hopefully it clears things up a bit!
:)
Whit
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by Whitney Garner » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:37 am
And don't forget that you can try out these different prompts and question types here:

https://www.mba.com/the-gmat/nex-gen/int ... rmats.aspx
Whitney Garner
GMAT Instructor & Instructor Developer
Manhattan Prep

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

Math is a lot like love - a simple idea that can easily get complicated :)

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by hemant_rajput » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:24 am
thanks whit. You cleared all my doubts. I like to add one more thing about here. I took Veritas prep GMAT exam today and got 6 correct but my score was 2, confusing right? It is because I got 4 experimental question right and those don't add any thing to your final score. so guys try to do at least 8 question correct.
I'm no expert, just trying to work on my skills. If I've made any mistakes please bear with me.