Making Judgments - Key Techniques

Making Judgments questions require you to evaluate a situation carefully and select the option that best satisfies the conditions given in the question. The most effective way to solve these questions is to use a set of repeatable techniques instead of relying on intuition or personal preference.

The following techniques are designed to help you solve Making Judgments questions accurately and quickly in competitive examinations.

1. Identify the Exact Decision

Before examining the options, determine exactly what decision the question requires.

Ask yourself: "What am I being asked to select, identify, or conclude?"

It may be a location, candidate, product, service, action, or conclusion.

2. Extract the Selection Criteria

Convert the important information in the question into a short checklist.

For example, if a candidate must have relevant experience, a specific qualification, and availability, these become the criteria against which every candidate is tested.

• Requirement 1
• Requirement 2
• Requirement 3
• Requirement 4

This prevents you from judging options based on vague impressions.

3. Separate Mandatory Conditions from Preferences

Some requirements are compulsory, while others are simply desirable.

4. Apply the Relevance Test

Ask whether each piece of information actually affects the decision.

If the question is selecting a training centre based on distance, seating capacity, and internet connectivity, the colour of the building is irrelevant unless appearance is specifically mentioned.

5. Start with the Strongest Restriction

When several conditions are given, identify the one that can eliminate the greatest number of options.

For example, if a job candidate must have at least five years of experience, checking this condition first may immediately eliminate several candidates.

There is no need to analyse every minor characteristic of an option that already fails a mandatory requirement.

6. Use the Elimination Technique

Elimination is one of the fastest techniques in Making Judgments.

1. Identify the mandatory conditions.
2. Check each option against the strongest condition.
3. Eliminate options that clearly fail.
4. Apply the remaining conditions to the survivors.
5. Select the strongest overall match.

7. Test Every Option Against Every Important Condition

Do not stop after finding one matching feature. A candidate may satisfy one requirement but fail another important one.

This technique is particularly useful when the answer choices are deliberately designed to contain partial matches.

8. Distinguish Best Fit from Perfect Fit

An option does not always have to be perfect. The question usually asks for the option that best satisfies the stated conditions.

If all available options have minor disadvantages, compare their important strengths and weaknesses and choose the option with the strongest overall logical fit.

9. Do Not Judge by One Attractive Feature

An option may look excellent because of one impressive feature, but it may fail another critical condition.

For example, a location may have excellent customer traffic but be far outside the required area. If proximity is mandatory, the high traffic does not make it the correct choice.

Always judge the complete match.

10. Use the "Must Be Satisfied" Test

For every major condition, ask:

If the answer is no and the condition is mandatory, eliminate the option.

11. Avoid Personal Preference

Making Judgments questions are not asking what you personally like.

A solver may naturally prefer one option, but that preference should not influence the answer unless the question explicitly includes personal preference as a criterion.

12. Do Not Add Outside Information

Use the information supplied in the question. Do not assume facts that have not been stated.

If the question does not tell you that one location has better security, you cannot reject another location because you personally believe it is less secure.

This technique is especially important in statement-based judgment questions.

13. Avoid Unsupported Assumptions

An assumption is information introduced by the solver rather than provided by the question.

Unless an assumption is directly supported by the question, do not use it to make the judgment.

14. Check Proportionality

The chosen judgment should be proportionate to the situation described.

If a question asks you to select the most suitable option for a routine requirement, do not introduce an unnecessarily complicated interpretation or decision.

The answer should address the actual problem without adding unnecessary conditions.

15. Separate Relevant Facts from Background Details

Some questions contain several facts simply to provide context. Not all of them determine the answer.

Identify the information that directly affects the judgment and focus on it first.

16. Use a Comparison Matrix

When several options are similar, create a simple mental comparison matrix.

You do not need to physically draw the table in the exam. The purpose is to organise your thinking.

17. Handle Characteristic-Matching Questions Carefully

When a question describes a person or object using several characteristics, break the description into individual conditions.

For example:

• Age range
• Physical characteristics
• Qualification
• Experience
• Availability
• Other specifically mentioned requirements

Then compare each candidate against the complete description.

Do not select a candidate merely because two or three characteristics match.

18. Handle Location-Based Questions Systematically

For location-selection questions, convert the description into measurable criteria wherever possible.

Common criteria include:

• Distance from a particular area
• Customer traffic
• Target audience
• Accessibility
• Cost
• Availability of required facilities

Check the options against these criteria instead of judging the locations by their names or descriptions alone.

19. Look for Directly Satisfied Conditions First

Some options clearly satisfy an important condition. Identify these direct matches before spending time on complicated comparisons.

If the question says a candidate must have a particular qualification and only one candidate has it, that information may immediately determine the answer.

This is especially useful in questions with long descriptions.

20. Distinguish Direct Inference from Guesswork

In statement-based questions, a judgment should be directly or logically supported by the information provided.

The conclusion follows from the given information. There is no need for additional assumptions.

21. Check the Direction of the Relationship

When information describes a relationship between two conditions, do not reverse it without justification.

For example:

Given: Employees who complete the required training receive access to the system.

This does not automatically mean that everyone who has system access completed the training.

Avoid reversing the direction of information.

22. Check for Hidden Contradictions

Sometimes an option appears suitable until one condition is checked carefully. Look for conflicts between the option and the requirements.

An option that satisfies three conditions but directly violates one mandatory condition should normally be eliminated.

23. Use the "Would a Decision-Maker Choose It?" Test

Imagine that you are responsible for making the decision using only the information provided.

Ask:

This helps distinguish logically suitable options from choices that merely sound attractive.

24. Do Not Stop at the First Matching Option

Finding one option that satisfies the conditions does not always mean you have found the correct answer.

Another option may satisfy the same conditions and provide a better overall fit.

Therefore, when the question asks for the best option, compare the remaining plausible choices before deciding.

25. Use the Best-Supported Option Principle

When more than one option appears reasonable, choose the option that has the strongest support from the information given.

26. Use Independent Evaluation

Evaluate each option independently before comparing them with one another.

For every option, ask:

1. Does it satisfy the first requirement?
2. Does it satisfy the second requirement?
3. Does it satisfy the third requirement?
4. Does it violate any mandatory condition?

Only after this should you compare the surviving options.

27. Apply the Three-Test Rule

An option that passes all three tests is a strong candidate for the correct answer.

28. Apply the 10-Second Elimination Scan

For faster solving, perform a quick scan before detailed analysis.

1. Find the most restrictive requirement.
2. Look for options that clearly violate it.
3. Eliminate those options immediately.
4. Repeat with the next important requirement.
5. Compare only the remaining options.

This technique is particularly useful when the options contain obvious mismatches.

29. Use the Four-Question Final Check

If the answer to these checks supports your choice, the judgment is usually reliable.

30. Final Verification Technique

Never mark the answer immediately after reaching a conclusion. Spend a few seconds verifying the exact wording of the question and the selected option.

Check:

• The exact requirement
• The exact option wording
• Any qualifying words such as only, must, at least, not, except, nearest, best, or most suitable
• Whether the option satisfies all important conditions
• Whether another option is better supported

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