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Many QR questions ask you to compare quantities across different categories — finding the highest, lowest, or ranked values, or determining proportional differences. These questions test your ability to extract and process data quickly. This lesson covers the systematic approach to comparison questions.
Example: "Which product had the highest revenue in March?"
Method: Scan the relevant column (March revenue) and identify the largest value.
Speed Tip: For straightforward "which is highest?" questions, you can often identify the answer by visual inspection without calculating anything. If the table shows 340, 420, 295, 510, the answer is obviously 510.
Example: "Rank the regions by population from highest to lowest."
Method: Read all values, then order them. For 4–5 values, you can rank mentally. For more, jot them on the whiteboard.
Example: "Which shop had the greatest increase in sales from January to February?"
Method: Calculate the difference for each shop, then compare. You may be able to estimate rather than calculate exactly if the differences are clearly unequal.
Example: "Which department has the highest percentage of female staff?"
Method: For each department, calculate (females ÷ total) × 100, then compare.
Shortcut: You do not need to calculate the exact percentage for every department. If one department is 15 out of 20 (75%) and another is 8 out of 30 (27%), you can see the first is higher without precise calculation.
For "which is highest?" questions with four options, quickly eliminate any that are clearly not the highest.
Example: Revenue figures: Shop A = £340k, Shop B = £520k, Shop C = £310k, Shop D = £480k.
Shop C is clearly not the highest. Shop A is unlikely. Compare Shop B and Shop D — Shop B (£520k) is higher.
To compare fractions (e.g., proportions), you can often compare without converting to decimals:
Example: Is 35/120 or 28/90 larger?
Cross-multiply: 35 × 90 = 3,150 vs 28 × 120 = 3,360.
3,150 < 3,360, so 35/120 < 28/90. 28/90 is larger.
Compare each value to a familiar benchmark:
Example: Which fraction is closest to 1/3?
Closest: 38/120.
A very common QR comparison: "Which category had the greatest percentage change?"
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