Inference Question basics
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The fourth Decision Making question type is Inference questions. The UCAT Consortium has used various names for these items, including ‘Interpreting Information’ and ‘Drawing Conclusions’.
Your task is to separate out the valid inferences from any invalid or faulty attempts at making inferences. You will do this by answering each of five statements as either Yes or No.
Each Inference question includes:
- A stimulus containing textual paragraph or visual data – sometimes both.
- Five statements, each in a separate box with a grey box next to it.
- Two possible answers – Yes and No – which you must drag and drop to each grey box.
You may use the onscreen calculator as needed to evaluate statements.
Each Inference question is worth up to 2 marks.
Visual data in Inference questions may include common forms like tables, charts and graphs.
You may also see diagrams or unusual formats. Do not worry if the data looks strange or complex.
Remember: the marks come from the statements, not the data. Use as little data as you need, one statement at a time, to lock in the marks.
The key task in Inference questions is text comparison. In this sense, DM Inference questions work very similarly to Verbal Reasoning.
You must compare each statement to the stimulus, one at a time, and decide if it is a valid inference (Yes) or not (No).
Be sure to drag and drop immediately before you move to the next statement – it is easy to forget when you are working under timed pressure.
In both DM and VR inferences, a valid inference is a statement that must be true based on the stimulus. This applies whether the stimulus is a text passage, visual data or a mix of the two.
In DM Inference questions, the Yes/No logic is slightly different to True/False/Can’t Tell in VR because in DM, there are only two options.
If a statement in a DM Inference question:
- must be true = Yes
- could be true = could be false = No
- cannot be true = must be false = No
On Test Day, try to answer each Inference question in 1 minute or less. It’s very tough pacing, but you will find as you revise that you can pick up speed, particularly with text-only stimuli.
Most individual statements in Inference questions will be relatively straightforward to compare to the stimulus. Be careful to limit calculator use as you may not need to crunch the numbers to see that a statement could be true or must be false. This skill will also help to improve your speed.
Timed practice
Inference question
Let's see what an Inference question looks like.
Use our Top Tips for Inference questions to improve your speed and accuracy:
1. Read the first statement first, before you look at the stimulus. This way, you can answer the first statement as soon as you see whether it is a valid inference or not.
2. Scan for key words from each statement in a long text-only stimulus, similar to your approach in VR. This approach works well if you are trying to quicken your pace.
3. Select relevant data from a table, chart or graph (or other visual data format) based on the specifics of each statement. This approach is a piece-by-piece comparison to keep your focus on the particulars of the current statement.
4. Compare statements to the stimulus text or data, one at a time. Be ready to drag-and-drop Yes or No once you see a match (Yes) or a non-match (No).
5. Avoid calculations wherever possible. Try to make a quick visual comparison of numbers to see if they are higher or lower, or use other maths shortcuts developed for QR to limit calculator use. If a statement is a No, you can often see it without calculating because the numbers are well out of scale or simply misdescribe the data.
You must assess each of the five parts in an Inference question on its own merits.
Compare the ideas, numbers or logic to the relevant parts of the stimulus.
This work is fragmentary: you will work with small pieces to see if they equal the same meaning, even when the specific words and numbers are a bit different. If you find equivalent pieces in the statement and the stimulus, it’s a match – the answer is Yes.
Remember that sometimes, you will simply not find equivalent pieces in the stimulus text or data because the statement is not supported. In those cases, the answer is No.
You will work quickly in Inference questions to decide: Yes or No?
Select Yes if the statement matches the stimulus:
- The statement is directly stated in the text or data.
- The statement describes the surface meaning of the text or data.
- The statement follows logically from the text or data. In all cases, it’s Yes if the statement must be true based on the stimulus.
Select No if:
- The statement is the opposite of something stated or implied in the text or data.
- The statement requires outside information to say whether it is a match or an opposite of the text or data.
Remember, anything that could be true is a No in Decision Making.
If it could be true, it also could be false.
If it must be definitively true in 100% of cases – or a solid match with the words, numbers and ideas in the stimulus – it must be true and is therefore a Yes.
In Decision Making, it’s quick to scan for key words in Inference questions because the text is much shorter than a full VR passage.
You can briskly but carefully look to see if a key word or phrase from a statement is in the stimulus. Remember to look for synonyms and related words, along with any possible paraphrase or restatement in the initial text.
You can use key words from each statement to check visual data, which will often include text in data labels, in some table cells or elsewhere.
Sometimes, you can see it is Yes or No simply because the text in the visual data matches or contradicts the statement.
It isn’t terrible to read the long text in an Inference stimulus in full before comparing the statements to it. You may prefer this, especially earlier on in your UCAT revision.
Always be sure to read the first statement first, so you can drag and drop Yes or No as soon as you spot the relevant part in the stimulus.
Walkthrough question
Text-only stimulus
Now look at this question with a stimulus consisting solely of text.
Take a moment to set up mentally before you go to the calculator, just as you do in QR.
This will ensure you pick the right numbers from the data and use the best steps in your calculation.
With practice, this approach will help you increase speed and improve accuracy.
Be prepared to make a note of the numbers you calculate in your notebook. You may find you need to do so if a single statement requires multiple calculations.
If you need to do two calculations, you can use the calculator memory for the first result. Then, compare it to the second result as you finish work.
But you may struggle to remember the values from three or more calculations under the timed pressures of Test Day. Jot down each result quickly in the notebook.
Limit calculator use to only those statements that absolutely need it.
Use your eyeballing and estimation skills to quickly assess and dismiss statements that make faulty claims about the data.
If the numbers are clearly out of scale, you don’t need to confirm with the calculator – you can just drag and drop No and move on.
Walkthrough question
Stimulus with visual data
Let's look at a question with visual data in the stimulus.