GMAT Data Insights Section

The Data Insights section was introduced with the release of the GMAT Focus Edition in 2023. It is comprised of the Data Sufficiency section, which was previously in the Quantitative Reasoning part of the exam, and the four question types that were previously included in the Integrated Reasoning section: Graphics Interpretation, Two-Part Analysis, Table Analysis, and Multi-Source Reasoning. Overall, Data Insights should more closely mimic the skills needed to succeed in business school, namely, analysis of complex situations and making inferences from various data sources.

Data Insights will make up one-third of your total GMAT score. You will have 45 minutes to answer 20 questions, testing extensive data analysis, critical thinking, and quantitative reasoning. Certain prompt categories will have multiple sub-questions. Note that the DI section does not introduce any new question types. Data Sufficiency questions were part of the classic GMAT, and Integrated Reasoning's four question types have been in the exam since 2012. So, the GMAT has essentially packaged the five question types as Data Insights. The key difference, however, is that unlike Integrated Reasoning, Data Insights is a scored section. Let's look at DI's five question types.

Data Sufficiency

Data Sufficiency questions are not exactly asking you to solve a problem, rather, they are testing whether you can accurately assess for relevant information and decide if you have all the necessary information to solve a problem. You will be given two statements containing data. Using your knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, and the provided data, you will have to determine if you are able to answer the given question. The key change to the DS section is that pure math types of questions were also asked previously, but now their narrations will be in words, or they will be in the form of word problems. You may use an on-screen calculator while working on the Data Insights section.

Graphics Interpretation

The Graphics Interpretation questions involve a graph with two multiple-choice sub-questions about the graphic information. Both questions will be in the form of sentences with drop-down menus of multiple-choice answers to accurately complete the sentences. In some cases, there might be a single sentence with two drop-down menus. The types of graphs can vary widely, from Venn diagrams to bar charts, line graphs, and several other types of graphs.

Some charts might be particularly complex. One part of a graphic might be a magnification of another part of a graphic, for example. For this reason, it's important to read the short synopsis under the graphic before answering the questions. The text synopses are always under 300 words, according to the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC). Test-takers should allot no more than 2.5 minutes to complete these two-part questions.

Two-Part Analysis

The types of questions in the Two-Part Analysis section vary greatly. They can involve mathematical equations, or text-based reasoning problems that can look more like reading comprehension. Each problem comes with two sub-questions to answer. What is unique about this section is the way the multiple-choice part of the problem is formatted.

If it is a math problem, for example, the questions following the equation may ask the test-taker to solve for X and for Y. There would then be a bar chart with one column listing several different numbers that could possibly be values for X or Y. Next to the column listing values, there would be a column labeled X and another column labeled Y, and the test taker would have to click the appropriate button corresponding to the correct value in each column. It is relatively straightforward as long as the test taker pays careful attention to which column is which. Each of these two-part problems should be completed in 2 to 2.5 minutes.

Table Analysis

The Table Analysis section includes some form of table, often with a short accompanying text, and three sub-questions related to it. The questions will all be yes-no, true-false, or some other form of 50-50 choice. There is also a pull-down menu that allows the test-taker to sort the data in the table by different criteria. It is important to take advantage of this feature, as it is a time-saver provided to the test-taker to help show analytical thinking. When crafting these questions, the test-makers are giving limited time to see if test-takers understand how to effectively and efficiently use sorting tools to isolate applicable data and solve a problem.

Multi-Source Reasoning

Multi-Source Reasoning problems generally have three tabs of information that need to be read. Following the question, there are either multiple-choice or yes-no type questions (or both) pertaining to the data in the tabs. Often the answers can be derived by piecing the data from the different tabs together. In other cases, information on some of the tabs is relevant, while information on others is not. This portion of the test evaluates the test taker's ability to discern which data is needed, as well as the ability to integrate and compare data from different sources.