Data Interpretation for the GRE General Exam consists of three questions in both quant sections of the test. Thus, there will be a total of six questions across both sections, and they will be placed in the same order.



from my guide Shorter GRE - How score is calculated & the new exam pattern. I suggest you to have a look at this. Knowing the exam pattern will help you in your time management of the test. Turns out, it is also a strategy.

The three-grouped table and graph questions aren’t really more challenging than the other math questions, but they do take more time to sort out what’s happening. I.E. they are more time-consuming than the other questions. However,, looking at the bright side, all the information you need to nail the questions are in the graphs. No more than that. Also, the same notions you have already learned for the other questions - specifically stats and set problems - will help you in this juncture.

Particularly, you have to have

• an eye for details;
• ability to draw the necessary information from the graphs, and avoid those unuseful or irrelevant.

The good news is that the process to nail the question correctly is pretty straightforward.










In a nutshell, these types of questions on the GRE are meant to analyze data. To accomplish this effectively and efficiently, you need to know how to make sense of data presented in different types of graphs.

1) The pie or circle chart

Each pie chart represents 100 percent of the whole and portions of the pie represent part of the circle. Usually, the pie shows percentages but also amounts. However, in both cases, they are still parts of the whole. Actually, we do have a ratio. A pie chart might show one series of data but also two series of data; in this latter case, certainly, the question will ask you some sort of comparison between the two series or relationships.

Here is an example




You can also have a combination (possible) of a pie chart with data in tables. Tables display data in rows and columns. However, a table is different from a graph, which is a drawing that visually shows the relationship between the data and how the data changes.

We have also examples of three pieces of data represented: tables, pie, and Single Series Column Charts








2) The line graph

A line graph consists of two or three axes with data points connected by a line, sort of like a connect-the-dots exercise. They basically show a trend over the days, months, years or among some kind of quantities. We might have

- Two axes: A typical line graph consists of an x- (horizontal) and y- (vertical) axis, each of which represents a different unit of measure.





- Three axes: A graph with three axes contains a second y-axis on the right.









3) The column or bar chart

A bar graph has vertical or horizontal bars that may represent actual numbers or percentages. Although they look significantly different from line graphs, they’re very similar.

We might have three forms or representations of the bar chart

(a) - Single Series Column Charts



(b) - Stacked Column Charts

Also, in this case, the GRE uses them to show two or more data series at a time, as differently shaded parts of one column.




(c) - Clustered Column Charts




We could have also a combination of line + bar chart



or pie, bar, and table chart




4) The scatter plot

A scatter plot is useful for spotting trends and making predictions. It’s similar to a line graph in that it uses horizontal and vertical axes to display the values of the plotted points. With a scatter plot, however, instead of connecting the individual dots, you draw a line to show the flow of data and predict where the future data points are likely to fall. This line is called a trend line or regression line. Sometimes the trend line is drawn, and other times you estimate where it is based on the data flow.

As far as we do know, there is ONE only example of a question with a scatter plot in the entire ETS Official Material ever released by ETS, though!




Keep in mind the following key point to solve always a scatter plot question:

Trend line or regression line: The line passes as closely as possible through the middle of the scattered points.

Correlation: Correlation specifies the direction of the regression line and how closely the two variables correspond:

• Positive correlation: The regression line has a positive slope; that is, the line rises from left to right.
• Negative correlation: The regression line has a negative slope; that is, the line runs downhill from left to right.
• No correlation: If the points are simply scattered all over the graph so that a regression line can’t clearly be determined, the variables have no correlation to one another.
• Strong or weak correlation: The closer the points are to the regression line, the stronger the correlation. Conversely, the farther they are from the line, the weaker the correlation


5) The Box-and-Whisker Plots

1. A box-and-whisker plot uses a number line to represent the data visually. I.E. It shows visually the GRE - Mean, Median, Mode, and Range
2. It displays a data set along a number line using medians. Quartiles divide the data set into four equal parts. The median (second quartile) divides the data set into two halves. The median of the lower half is the first quartile. The median of the upper half is the third quartile.
3. The box plot does not show individual data but it analyzes the spread of data. A measure of spread is a single number that describes how to spread out or clustered together the data are.
4. Another measure of spread is the interquartile range (IQR). The “Interquartile Range” is the difference between the smallest value and the largest value of the middle 50% of a set of data.

The above is an excerpt from my guide that I advise you to read to understand what they are fully

GRE - Box-and-Whisker Plots


As far as we do know, there is ONE only example of a question with a scatter plot in the entire ETS Official Material ever released by ETS, though!