Minimalist IAS
CSAT

CSAT · 58 questions

Data interpretation & sufficiency

Every UPSC CSAT question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

Data interpretation & sufficiency questions per year: 2016: 0, 2017: 1, 2018: 13, 2019: 0, 2020: 6, 2021: 5, 2022: 7, 2023: 5, 2024: 10, 2025: 5, 2026: 6 Asked in 9 of 11 years · most in 2018 (13)
Timed · 30 minutes a set Practise Data interpretation & sufficiency as timed tests 3 sets of about 20 questions with UPSC's CSAT marking. Start practising

UPSC syllabus: “Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. — Class X level);” Sub-topics in the detailed syllabus →

यदि एक प्रतिदर्श आँकड़े के लिए

माध्य < माध्यिका < बहुलक

है, तो वितरण

Read this question in English

If for a sample data

Mean < Median < Mode

then the distribution is

(a) symmetric · (b) skewed to the right · (c) neither symmetric nor skewed · (d) skewed to the left

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (d) बायीं ओर विषम है

In a skewed distribution the mean is pulled furthest towards the long tail, the mode sits at the peak, and the median lies between them. Mean < Median < Mode means the tail stretches to the left: the distribution is negatively skewed.

  1. In a symmetric distribution mean = median = mode, so (a) and (c) are out.
  2. A few very small values pull the mean down more than the median, while the mode (the peak) is least affected.
  3. So mean < median < mode signals a long left tail: skewed to the left (negative skew).
  4. Skewed to the right would give the reverse order: mode < median < mean.

Remember · The mean chases the tail: mean below median means left-skewed; mean above median means right-skewed.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

The Syllabus X-Ray of this topic

1 of its 2 sub-topics is Core

1 Core · 1 High · 0 Steady · 0 Rare

  • Core #6Data sufficiency · 38 questions
  • HighTables, charts & graphs · 20 questions

The X-Ray ranks all 928 sub-topics of the UPSC syllabus by what UPSC has asked since 2016. The 6 CSAT Core sub-topics are behind 50% of CSAT questions.

See the whole X-Ray →