Data Sufficiency Tips and Tricks for Government Exams

Data Sufficiency is one of those few topics which is a part of both the reasoning ability and quantitative aptitude section. Most Government exams conducted in the country have data sufficiency as a common topic in their syllabus. 

The biggest mistake that candidates tend to make while solving the data sufficiency questions is that they choose to guess rather than solve such questions, ultimately losing marks.

In this article, we bring to you data sufficiency questions for reasoning ability with respect to both maths and logical reasoning questions and also tips and tricks to solve them.

What is Data Sufficiency?

In questions based on Data Sufficiency, candidates are given a piece of information followed by a few conditions and then a few options where they have to answer which of the given conditions shall be necessary to answer the question. 

As complicated as it may seem, the data sufficiency questions may be time taking at times because of their length and multiple options. Candidates need to ensure that they do not panic seeing the length of the question and guess the answer to the questions.

Candidates willing to learn more about the upcoming Government exams, can visit the linked article and start their preparation accordingly.

There are a few tips and tricks which can be followed to solve the data sufficiency questions. Candidates can refer to these tips given below:

1. Since the questions are lengthy, candidates must not panic and carefully read the entire question. At times, the different data sufficiency questions can also be solved verbally, especially for the quantitative aptitude questions
2. Do not look for the final answer (if not asked). You mostly have to only answer which conditions will satisfy your requirements to meet the answer to the question
3. Make sure that you do not make any assumptions. The information given in the question is the only fact that needs to be considered to answer the question
4. While going point by point, try solving the answer with the first condition given. Then, keep adding on the next conditions given until you get an answer
5. Generally, no data sufficiency question asked for a calculative answer. It mostly demands the candidates to know which conditions will help you reach the answer. So first read before answering

Aspirants can refer to the links given below to prepare themselves for the other sections of the Government exam syllabus as well:

Data sufficiency is a part of Logical reasoning. It must be noted that other reasoning concepts are used to form data sufficiency questions. So, candidates must not just have strong command over answering the questions from this section but also have knowledge of the other reasoning topics.

Solving more and more questions based on this topic is the key to have a better understanding of the concept and also will help in apprehending the correct approach to answer questions from this topic. Candidates can visit the Data Sufficiency Questions page and get solved sample for logical reasoning questions which may help them with their preparation.

Candidates can check the detailed logical reasoning syllabus at the linked article. 

The links mentioned below will help candidates prepare themselves for the other reasoning ability syllabus topics:

Further below we have given a few sample questions to make the concept more understandable to the candidates. 

Data Sufficiency Reasoning – Solved Examples

Sample questions for the reasoning data sufficiency questions have been discussed below.

Directions (Q1-Q4): For each of the questions given below, two statements I & II have been given. Analyse and answer whether the data provided in the two statements are sufficient to answer the question or not. Read the statements and choose from the options given below:

A. If the data alone in statement I is sufficient to answer the question, while the data alone in statement II is not sufficient to answer the question 

B. If the data alone in statement II is sufficient to answer the question, while the data alone in statement I is not sufficient to answer the question

C. Data in either statement I or statement II is sufficient to answer the question

D. If data in the two statements together is also not sufficient to answer the question

E. If data in both statements is necessary to answer the question

Q 1. How many children are there between Priya and Rashmi in a row of children?

Statement I: Priya is fifteenth from the left in the row

Statement II: Rashmi is exactly in the middle and there are ten children towards his right

1. A
2. D
3. E
4. C
5. B

Answer: (3) E

Q 2. How is A related to B?

Statement I: Q’s sister A is married to B’s father

Statement II: B and X are children of P who is wife of A

1. D
2. E
3. A
4. C
5. B

Answer: (4) C

Q 3. When will Mohan celebrate his birthday this year?

Statement I: Mohan’s birthday is between March 13 and 15, March 13 is Wednesday.

Statement II: It is not on Friday.

1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D
5. E

Answer: 5 (E) 

Q 4. What is the code for ‘clouds’ in the code language?

Statement I: In the code language, ‘clouds is blue’ is written as ‘se ra fa’.

Statement II: In the same code language, ‘make it blue’ is written as ‘se ga zo’.

1. A
2. C
3. E
4. D
5. B

Answer: (4) D

Similar to the reasoning ability data sufficiency questions, for quantitative aptitude as well, candidates need to have command over the other important topics in terms of numerical ability as an amalgamation of those forms the data sufficiency questions.

To check the syllabus for the quantitative aptitude section, candidates can visit the linked article.

Aspirants can check the syllabus for various Government exams at the articles linked below:

The following questions are examples of quantitative aptitude data sufficiency. This type of data sufficiency questions has become more common in competitive exams with increased competition.

Directions (Q1-Q10): For each of the questions given below, two statements I & II have been given. Analyse and answer whether the data provided in the two statements are sufficient to answer the question or not. Read the statements and choose from the options given below:

A. If the data alone in statement I is sufficient to answer the question, while the data alone in statement II is not sufficient to answer the question 

B. If the data alone in statement II is sufficient to answer the question, while the data alone in statement I is not sufficient to answer the question

C. Data in either statement I or statement II is sufficient to answer the question

D. If data in the two statements together is also not sufficient to answer the question

E. If data in both statements together is necessary to answer the question

Q 1. In which year was Rahul born?

Statement I: Rahul at present is 25 years younger to his mother.

Statement II: Rahul’s brother, who was born in 1964, is 35 years younger to his mother.

1. A
2. B
3. D
4. C
5. E

Answer: (5) E

Q 2. If the current year is 2020, In which year was Gopal born?

Statement I: Gopal is 6 years older than Dev.

Statement II: Dev was born in 1982.

1. B
2. A
3. D
4. E
5. C

Answer: (4) E

Q 3. How much money was invested by Ajay?

Statement I: Total amount received by Bharat after 3 years is Rs.4800 at compound interest.

Statement II: Bharat and Ajay invested their amount at the rate of 10% per annum.

1. A
2. E
3. B
4. C
5. D

Answer: (5) D

Q 4. Number of females from village C in all the years together is what percent of the total number of employees from village C in all the years together?

Statement I: Total number of employees from village C in 2017 is 280 and the ratio of the number of females to males from C in 2017 is 4: 3.

Statement II: 60% of the total number of employees from village C in 2014 to 2017 is males.

1. A
2. B
3. C
4. E
5. D

Answer: (4) E

Candidates must solve more questions based on this topic to understand the level of questions even better. 

Aspirants who are looking for any more information regarding the bank exams, tips for preparation or study material. They can turn to BYJU’S for assistance. 

Q 5.In which year was Rahul born ?

Statements:

1. Agatsya at present is 25 years younger to his mother.
2. Agatsya brother, who was born in 1964, is 35 years younger to his mother.

A.I alone is sufficient while II alone is not sufficient

B.II alone is sufficient while I alone is not sufficient

C.Either I or II is sufficient

D.Neither I nor II is sufficient

E.Both I and II are sufficient

Answer: E

From both I and II, we find that Agatsya is (35 – 25) = 10 years older than his brother, who was born in 1964. So, Agatsya was born in 1954.

Q 6. What will be the total weight of 10 poles, each of the same weight ?

Statements:

1. One-fourth of the weight of each pole is 5 kg.
2. The total weight of three poles is 20 kilograms more than the total weight of two poles.

A.I alone is sufficient while II alone is not sufficient

B.II alone is sufficient while I alone is not sufficient

C.Either I or II is sufficient

D.Neither I nor II is sufficient

E.Both I and II are sufficient

Answer: C

Statements:

1. H is the only daughter of X who is the wife of M.
2. K and J are brothers of M.

A.I alone is sufficient while II alone is not sufficient

B.II alone is sufficient while I alone is not sufficient

C.Either I or II is sufficient

D.Neither I nor II is sufficient

E.Both I and II are sufficient

Answer D

From I, we conclude that H is the only daughter of M. But this does not indicate that M has no son.

Q 8. How much was the total sale of the company ?

Statements:

1. The company sold 8000 units of product A each costing Rs. 25.
2. This company has no other product line.

A.I alone is sufficient while II alone is not sufficient

B.II alone is sufficient while I alone is not sufficient

C.Either I or II is sufficient

D.Neither I nor II is sufficient

E.Both I and II are sufficient

Answer E

Q 9. The last Sunday of March, 2006 fell on which date ?

Statements:

1. The first Sunday of that month fell on the 5th.
2. The last day of that month was Friday.

A.I alone is sufficient while II alone is not sufficient

B.II alone is sufficient while I alone is not sufficient

C.Either I or II is sufficient

D.Neither I nor II is sufficient

E.Both I and II are sufficient

Answer: C

Q 10. How many children are there between P and Q in a row of children ?

Statements:

1. P is fifteenth from the left in the row.
2. Q is exactly in the middle and there are ten children towards his right.

A.I alone is sufficient while II alone is not sufficient

B.II alone is sufficient while I alone is not sufficient

C.Either I or II is sufficient

D.Neither I nor II is sufficient

E.Both I and II are sufficient

Answer: E