Analogies are a frequently-encountered element of the Verbal Reasoning component of psychometric testing. These questions are quite frequently encountered across a variety of applications. While such questions may be easy for some, others may find them a bit more challenging.

In these questions, you will be presented with two words which have a certain relation to one another, and also a third word to which you must apply the same relationship, in order to find the correct answer. These questions are delivered in a number of categories, but, in order to effectively approach these questions, you must understand the overarching traits seen across all categories.  It would be a waste of time to weigh yourself down with the needless categorization of every single facet of this question type.

Question:

STETHOSCOPE is to DOCTOR as __?__ is to SINGER.

1. WRENCH
2. MICROPHONE
3. HAMMER
4. SPOTLIGHT
5. CHALKBOARD

Now, in order to approach this question, we must first understand the relationship being described between the first two items. We are dealing with the relationship between a STETHOSCOPE and a DOCTOR. In this instance, it is simply a matter of applying context. This can be achieved by putting the two words in a sentence.

Here, we can quite quickly discern that a stethoscope is a tool used by a doctor. Now, let’s take a look at the answer options and see which might be considered to be a tool used by a singer:

1. WRENCH
2. MICROPHONE
3. HAMMER
4. SPOTLIGHT
5. CHALKBOARD

We can quickly eliminate options 1, 3 and 5 because they have no direct application in the context of a singer. That leaves us with two things which may be considered as ‘tools’ for a singer. Let’s consider the remaining two options in comparison to the stethoscope.

A stethoscope is an item the doctor keeps on his person and operates it by hand.

A spotlight is not used by hand nor is it carried by a singer.  But a microphone is. To this end, we can quickly determine that a microphone is far more applicable in this context. As such, we can deduce that the microphone is the correct answer.

Answer: MICROPHONE

As we can see, this question type is built very much around one’s intuition and lexicon. Without the vocabulary to understand the meaning of certain words in the first place, one stands little chance of overcoming the trickier questions of this category. If you are, as most people who are, to take some manner of psychometric test for employment, without a lot of time to study before the real assessment, there is not much that you can do to broaden your vocabulary in such a short time. As such, it is important to go for the questions you understand the words in, and not dally too much with those questions where the meaning of any given word is unknown or unclear. Some questions will intentionally use very uncommon words which most people will be unfamiliar with.  These are, for most, a time trap, so don’t waste any time on those questions. You don’t want to lose precious seconds, which could be better spent on more surmountable questions.

In this question format, it is advised to follow this routine when finding the solution (that is, unless the answer is quickly evident, as will regularly be the case in this question format):

Note: in some questions, only one option will remain after the ‘FILTER’ stage, so it is unnecessary to progress to the final step as only one answer option remains at this stage.

Now, so that we can understand how this process works in application, let’s look at another example:

Question: EARTHQUAKE is to TSUNAMI as __?__ is to FLOOD.

1. AVALANCHE
2. DROUGHT
3. BUSHFIRES
4. SINKHOLE
5. HURRICANE

Observe

This step is very much a matter of personal understanding of the words used. For this example, we will assume that we understand the meaning of every word here as the language is not too complicated. If you do not understand the meaning of certain words, it is best to make an educated guess and move on to the next question.

Establish

Let’s consider the relationship in the given analogy. Here we have an EARTHQUAKE and a TSUNAMI. Here, personal knowledge of such concepts is vital. With the correct knowledge, we will know that an earthquake can cause a tsunami as a knock-on effect (or chain reaction). There are not really any other clear relationships between the two words, so we can assume that this is the correct relationship.

Filter & Compare

In this instance, every possible answer passes the basic criteria of being a natural disaster, so there is nothing we can filter out. Instead, we must go straight to the question: which of these disasters can lead to a flood?  In this instance, it is hurricanes, which can lead to flooding. As such, we have our answer.

Answer: HURRICANE

As stated earlier, success in this question type is harder to prepare for than most other question types in this test, as it depends on pre-existing lexical knowledge as well as a level of general knowledge as we saw in the prior example. As the selection of topics is so broad in this question type, it is not practical to waste time attempting to educate yourself on every single analogy topic which might arise; instead, you should spend time practicing questions and learning how to quickly assess which questions you can do, and then focus on approaching those effectively. It is better to save one’s precious seconds by avoiding those questions which are insurmountable at the time.

In summary, find the relationship in the first analogy given in the question, and then impose that relationship on the first word in the second analogy, in order to discern the correct answer. If you do not know the meaning of certain words, do not waste time - take an educated guess based on intuition, and just move on. A majority of psychometric tests have an average score which is far below the maximum possible score, so do not get too caught up on the few questions which would take up too much of your time. By properly prioritizing the questions you answer you can maximize your chance for a good score and excel in this test compared to your peers.