IIM B UG (B.Sc-Hons.)- Sample Paper 2026 · English Comprehension · RC passage 2: Data-Driven Analyses in Crises

The full passage and all 4 questions (Q5–Q8) from IIM B UG (B.Sc-Hons.)- Sample Paper 2026, with answers and solutions.

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow. Choose the best answer to each question.

As crises continue to erupt worldwide, the ability to address their adverse effects remains elusive. While the jury is still out on best practices for anticipating and responding to crises, the growing salience of what has been dubbed as ‘evidence-based policymaking’ has led to an increasing demand for data-driven analyses (DDAs). This is arguably because statistics are usually deemed apt at capturing, and processing, the high-frequency nature of crises. DDAs can provide a digestible way of measuring the temporal evolution and spatial distribution of crisis drivers like social unrest, macroeconomic imbalances, armed violence, food insecurity and population displacement. Through graphical representations, numerical data can convey otherwise complex information that usually requires pages of text to summarize. A visual can sometimes be worth a thousand words. But while the quantitative approach has its notable advantages, data is often taken at face value, usually creating the illusion that statistics are unquestionably reliable. Because of the hazardous and even politicized method of collecting and disseminating information across crisis-affected locations, data must always be consumed with caution. Indeed, data is not impervious to errors, bias, misrepresentation, or manipulation. When dealing with issues that require contextual knowledge, data can only tell us so much. For this reason, DDAs should be envisaged as complementary tools to qualitative insights. This is particularly true in crises, where widespread disruption can cause much confusion due to the multiplicity of events taking place simultaneously, some of which cannot necessarily be quantified. When analyzing different datasets, careful consideration must however be paid to the caveats that data providers tend to identify, notably regarding the process of collecting and coding quantifiable information on crisis events. This is especially important when the sourcing of the information is incomplete, contested or even manipulated. In turn, poor data limits the potential to develop more ‘sophisticated’ forms of DDAs, notably the ones that are growing in popularity and that aim to make use of Artificial Intelligence. But so long as crisis data remains largely small in sample size, DDAs in this realm will remain limited as large samples are required for statistical validity.

Question 5 · RC - Author's Tone/Attitude

Which of the following terms would accurately classify the stance of the author on reliability of DDAs?
  1. A
    Ambivalent
  2. B
    Qualified
  3. C
    Limited
  4. D
    Certainty
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option B

The author grants that DDAs have 'notable advantages', but warns that data 'must always be consumed with caution', is 'not impervious to errors, bias, misrepresentation, or manipulation', and should be used as a complement to qualitative insights.

That is support with conditions and reservations – a qualified stance (option 2).

Option 1, 'ambivalent', means torn between two views without settling; the author has a clear view: useful, but with caution.
Option 3, 'limited', describes DDAs themselves (the author says they 'will remain limited'), not the author's stance.
Option 4, 'certainty', is the opposite: the author warns against treating statistics as 'unquestionably reliable'.

Shortcut: 'yes, but with conditions' = qualified.

Hence, the answer is option 2.

Question 6 · RC - Inference

DDAs are meant to convey:
  1. A
    Data
  2. B
    Measurement
  3. C
    Visual depiction of crises
  4. D
    Quick understanding of real evidence
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option D

The passage says DDAs answer the demand of 'evidence-based policymaking'. They 'provide a digestible way of measuring' crisis drivers, and through graphics 'numerical data can convey otherwise complex information that usually requires pages of text to summarize. A visual can sometimes be worth a thousand words.'

So their purpose is to convey evidence in a quick, easy-to-grasp form – option 4.

Options 1 and 2 – data and measurement – are what DDAs use, not what they are meant to convey.
Option 3 – visual depiction – is one means (graphs), not the purpose.

Shortcut: 'digestible', 'worth a thousand words' and 'evidence-based' together point to a quick understanding of evidence.

Hence, the answer is option 4.

Question 7 · RC - Specific Detail

Which of the following is not usually covered by the DDAs:
  1. A
    Macroeconomic conditions
  2. B
    Real-time dynamics
  3. C
    Contextual realities
  4. D
    Political conflicts
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option C

DDAs measure crisis drivers 'like social unrest, macroeconomic imbalances, armed violence' and capture 'the high-frequency nature of crises' – so options 1, 2 and 4 are covered.

But 'When dealing with issues that require contextual knowledge, data can only tell us so much', and some events 'cannot necessarily be quantified'. So contextual realities are not usually covered – option 3.

Shortcut: the passage says DDAs need qualitative insight to supply context.

Hence, the answer is option 3.

Question 8 · RC - Inference

To make DDAs more reliable, we need:
  1. A
    Reliable data
  2. B
    Reliable data collection
  3. C
    Reliable data dissemination
  4. D
    Reliable data measurement
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option B

The passage traces the weakness of DDAs back to how data is gathered: the 'hazardous and even politicized method of collecting and disseminating information', and caveats 'regarding the process of collecting and coding quantifiable information on crisis events', especially when 'the sourcing of the information is incomplete, contested or even manipulated'. Small samples also limit DDAs – another collection problem.

So the root need is reliable data collection – option 2.

Option 1, 'reliable data', is the result we want, not what we need to do to get it.
Option 3, dissemination, is mentioned once alongside collection, but the passage keeps returning to collection, coding and sourcing.
Option 4, measurement, is what DDAs do with the data afterwards.

Shortcut: ask where the problem starts – at the point of collecting and sourcing the data.

Hence, the answer is option 2.

Take this paper as a timed test
Real exam timing, instant score, rank and topic-wise analysis.

Practice timed →