Information Ordering
What this section tests
Information Ordering asks you to arrange steps, events, or items into the correct sequence. Sometimes the basis is time (what happened first), sometimes procedure (what must precede what), and sometimes rank (largest to smallest, closest to farthest, highest priority to lowest).
Concepts to master
- Dependency. The key skill. A step cannot occur until its prerequisite is complete: you cannot compare two statements until both have been taken; you cannot submit a report until it is written and reviewed.
- Chronology. Track clocks, dates, and words like before, after, during, meanwhile, once, until.
- Ranking criteria. Read the criterion carefully - alphabetical by last name is not alphabetical by first name; "most serious to least" is not "least to most."
- Anchors. Find the step with no prerequisite (it goes first) and the step that nothing can follow (it goes last).
Traps
- A step that sounds early but logically requires a later step.
- Two events described out of chronological order in the text to test whether you re-sequence them.
- Ranking questions where the criterion flips partway through the list.
- Circular-looking options that put a review before the draft it reviews.
Rule of thumb
Write the steps down and ask of each one: What must already be true for this to happen? Every step that has an unmet prerequisite gets pushed later. The chain assembles itself from both ends.
Worked example
Steps: draft the narrative, interview the complainant, review for accuracy, submit to the supervisor, collect identifying information. The interview must produce the facts, and identifying information comes from the complainant - so both precede drafting. Draft precedes review; review precedes submission. Correct order: interview → collect identifying information → draft → review → submit. Any option with review before drafting is impossible regardless of how sensible it reads.