Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz
Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz
Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz
1. Accepting an internal auditing assignment to audit a team’s conformance to a procedure would be a potential
conflict of interest if:
A. the procedure was written by another member of your SQA team.
B. you know the manager of the team being audited.
C. you had previously audited the same team against other procedures.
D. you are hoping to transfer to the team being audited.
2. In response to the results of an audit, a corrective action plan is required for:
A. each organizational area evaluated during the audit.
B. each finding documented in the audit report.
C. each observation documented in the audit report.
D. each nonconforming product identified during the audit.
3. A team of stakeholders including developers and end-users is brought together in a facilitated session to determine
the requirements for a new release of a software product. This is an example of:
A. joint applications development.
B. quality functional deployment.
C. a focus group.
D. use case analysis.
3. Answer C is correct. In a data flow diagram, a circle is the symbol used for a process inside the system that
transforms the data. In this example diagram, the process (labeled Element 3) received the data (labeled Element 2)
from the external entity (labeled Element 1) and transforms it into two data items. One data item (labeled Element 4)
is stored in a data repository (labeled Element 5). The other data item (labeled Element 6) is transferred to another
process (labeled Element 7). CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: III.C.3
4. Answer B is correct. The PERT method adds the most optimistic estimate plus four times the most likely
estimate plus the most pessimistic estimate and divided by 6. For this task that would be (30 + (4 x 45) + 90) / 6 =
50 days. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: IV.A.3
5. Answer A is correct. A derived measure is defined as a function of two or more values of base measures. In other
words, the value of a derived measure is calculated using a formula or algorithm that combines two or more base
measures or other derived measures. Defect density is calculated by dividing the number of defects found in a work
product by the product’s size. Phase containment effectiveness for the design phase is calculated by dividing the
number of design defects identified during the design phase by the total number of design defects identified.
Base measures can be measured in terms of the attribute and the methods used to quantify it. For example, we can
directly measure the size of a source code module by counting the line of code (assuming that we have clearly
defined criteria). We can also directly measure the duration of a task by measuring the number of hours it took to
complete that task. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: V.A.1
6. Answer D is correct. According to the IEEE Standard Glossary of Software engineering Terminology black box
testing, also call functional testing, “ignores the internal mechanisms of a system or component and focuses solely
on the outputs generated in response to selected inputs and execution conditions.” CSQE Body of Knowledge Area:
VI.C.3
7. Answer C is correct. An evaluation of the user’s manual for format and completeness would be part of a physical
configuration audit. A review of the verification and validation reports and a review of all approved changes to
verify completeness would be part of a functional configuration audit. An evaluation of the elements of the quality
system for applicability would be part of a quality system audit. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: VII.E.2
Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz for March 2003
1. Mandatory requirements employed and enforced to prescribe a disciplined uniform approach to software
development are:
A. standards.
B. procedures.
C. processes.
D. guidelines
2. Which of the following is NOT a role of the lead auditor?
A. Writing the final audit report
B. Preparing the audit plan
C. Conducting the closing meeting of the on-site audit
D. Providing the authority to conduct the audit
3. Which of the following tools is most likely to be used in requirements management?
A. Data flow diagram
B. Histogram
C. Entity relationship diagram
D. Traceability matrix
Cost Categories & Results for Project ABC
Development costs $220K
Peer review costs $35K
Structural & Integration testing costs $40K
Functional testing costs $87K
Regression testing costs $12K
Capital equipment costs $76K
Training costs $13K
Debugging & problem correction costs $41K
Initial release & roll-out costs $18K
Corrective release & roll-out costs $9K
Software Quality Assurance costs $17K
Software process definition & tailoring costs $5K
Auditing costs $12K
Metrics program costs $3K
This data table is used in question 4.
4. The chart above shows the breakout of the cost for project ABC by category. Based on this information the total
cost of quality for project ABC would be reported as:
A. $168K
B. $274K
C. $368K
D. $588K
Phase Introduced
Phase Detected Requirements Design Code
Requirements 25
Design 7 32
Code 2 12 63
Test 9 26 23
Post Release 2 5 7
This data table is used in question 5.
5. Given the information in the table above, what is the phase containment effectiveness of the design phase?
A. 41%
B. 43%
C. 74%
D. 93%
6. Which of the following items is LEAST likely to be peer reviewed?
A. Design specification
B. User manual
C. Problem report
D. Test cases
7. A specification or product that has been formally reviewed and agreed upon and that can be changed only through
formal change control is called:
A. a baseline.
B. a promotion.
C. a version.
D. a configuration item.
Answers to the Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz for March 2003
1. Answer A is correct. A standard is a mandatory requirements employed and enforced to prescribe a disciplined
uniform approach to software development. A procedure is a written description of a course of action to perform a
given task. A process is a sequence of steps performed for a given purpose. A guideline is a recommended but not
required approach or best practice. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: I.B
2. Answer D is correct. Providing the authority to conduct the audit is the role of the audit initiator, also called the
audit customer or client. The lead auditor is responsible for:
· Preparing the audit plan
· Reviewing findings and observations from auditors and preparing the audit report
Answers to the Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz for December 2002 1. Answer C is correct.
Benchmarking is the process of identifying, understanding, and adapting outstanding practices and processes from
organizations anywhere in the world to help our organization improve its performance. CSQE Body of Knowledge
Area: I.A.3
2. Answer B is correct. The project’s Quality Assurance Plan should define the specific quality level tasks for that
project and assign responsibilities for those tasks. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: II.A.4
3. Answer C is correct. Efficiency requirements describe the amount of computing resources required to perform
software functions. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: III.C.1
4. Answer A is correct. Hazard analysis examines the potential failure modes of a product and determines their
impacts. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: IV.C.14
5. Answer C is correct. Ratio scale measurement have an exact distance between the scales and an absolute or non-
arbitrary zero point. All mathematical operations can be applied including addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: V.A.2
6. Answer A is correct. Bottom-up integration testing starts with the lowest-level modules and uses drivers to
simulate the higher-level calling modules. Each driver is then replaced with the next higher level of module and its
driver and so on until all the modules have been integrated. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: VI.C.6
7. Answer D is correct. Promotion is the transition in the level of authority needed to approve changes to a
controlled entity. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: VII.C.1
Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz for November 2002
1. Establishing which of the following team rules is an example of a win-win outcome?
A. The last person to arrive at the meeting keeps the minutes
B. Team discussions will focus on products and processes and not on personalities
C. Team decisions will be made through a multi-voting process
D. The meeting times will be adjusted weekly to accommodate team member’s schedules
2. A Software Engineering Process Group (SEPG) has defined and documented a new change request process to
reduce the cycle time for requesting and implementing customer requested enhancements to company ABC’s
software. The SEPG’s next step should be to:
A. conduct a pilot implementation of the new process to test its effectiveness.
B. perform an in-process audit to identify problems with the existing process.
C. implement a training program to teach the new process throughout the company.
D. purchase a change request tool and site license to support the new process.
3. A preliminary design review meeting is held with the customer for a new software product. During this review, a
defect is identified that results in changes to several requirements in the baselined requirements specification. Which
of the following work products should be evaluated to determine the impact of this change?
I. Architectural design specification
II. Detailed design specification
III. Source code
A. I only
B. III only
C. II and III only
D. I, II and III
4. The completion and baselining of the User’s Manual and Installation Instructions should be an entry criteria into
which of the following phase gate reviews:
A. Critical design review
B. System test readiness review
C. Ready to ship review
D. Post project review
5. Which of the following metrics is a software product metric?
A. Cycle time
B. Phase containment effectiveness
C. Defect density
D. Effort hours expended during coding
6. Which of the following tests would be considered a stress test for an accounting package that is required to handle
100,000 transactions an hour with a cycle time of 10 seconds per transaction or less?
A. Utilizing an automated program that simulates a varying stream ranging from no transactions per hour to 100,000
transactions per hour of various types while monitoring the software performance capabilities
B. Utilizing an automated program that simulates a steady stream of 99,999 transactions per hour of various types in
the background while kicking off an additional occurrence of each type of transaction in sequence and monitoring
their cycle times
C. Utilizing an automated program that simulates a steady stream of 100,000 transactions per hour of various types
over a 48-hour period while monitoring the software performance capabilities
D. Utilizing an automated program that simulates a steady stream of 100,000 transactions per hour of various types
in the background while periodically kicking off an additional 1,000 transactions and monitoring the resulting
impact to the operations of the software
7. Which of the following work products would be part of the functional baseline?
I. System requirements specification
II. Software requirements specification
III. Software architectural design specification
IV. Software detailed design specification
A. I only
B. II only
C. I and II only
D. III and IV only
Answers to the Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz for November 2002
1. Answer D is correct. Answer D is an example of a win-win outcome, every team member wins because their
schedules are taken into consideration so they can attend the meeting without undue problems caused by conflicting
work and because the team meetings are more productive when all the team members are consistently in attendance.
Answer A is an example of a win-lose outcome, the last person in the room “loses” because they have to take the
minutes and everyone else “wins” because they don’t. Answer B is a useful team rule that helps minimize negative
conflict within the team but it doesn’t have a direct outcome, win-win or otherwise. Answer C is an example of a
rule that will prompt a win-lose outcome, in a multi-voting process the items or ideas with the most votes “win” and
the other items or ideas “lose”. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: I.C.4
2. Answer A is correct. The new process should be tested through conducting a pilot implementation to ensure that it
works effectively. This provides an opportunity to fine tune the process and correct any problems before it is
propagated to the entire organization. It also minimizes the impact on the organization if the process doesn’t have
the desired results and a determination is made not to implement the process organization wide. An in-process audit
to identify problems with the existing process (Answer B) should have been conducted prior to defining and
documenting the new process as input into determining the types of changes that need to be made. Implementing a
training program to teach the new process throughout the company (Answer C) would be part of the roll out of the
new process and should be done only after a successful pilot. Purchasing a change request tool and site license to
support the new process (Answer D) would also be part of the roll out. The identification of the supporting tool
would typically be part of the definition of the new process and it may be necessary to acquire enough
demonstration copies or tool licenses to conduct the pilot. However the expense of a site license is premature until
after a successful pilot. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: II.B.2
3. Answer A is correct. A preliminary design review is held to evaluate the architectural design of the product. Since
this is a new product, the detailed design and software source code have typically not been created at this point in
the software development process. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: III.B.2
4. Answer B is correct. The User’s Manual and Installation Instructions should be tested as part of System Testing.
Therefore, their completion and baselining should be part of the entry criteria to the system test readiness phase gate
review. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: IV.B.1
5. Answer C is correct. Defect density is a metric that measures the number of defects per size of the software
product so it is a software product metric. Examples of defect density might be the number of coding defects per
thousand lines of code, the number of user manual defects per page or the number of defects per test case. Cycle
time measures the amount of calendar time it takes to perform a process or task so it is a process metric. Phase
containment effectiveness measures the percentage of defects that were found in the same phase of the software
development life cycle in which they were introduced. An example of phase containment would include the number
of requirements type defects that were found during the requirements phase or the number of coding defects found
during the coding and unit test phase. Therefore, phase containment is a process metric that measures the
effectiveness of the defect detection processes during a phase. Effort hours expended during coding is a resource
metric. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: V.B.1
6. Answer D is correct. Stress testing subjects the software to surges or spikes of excess load over short periods of
time and evaluates the software’s capability. Answer A is an example of load testing which evaluates the software’s
performance capabilities at various levels of normal usage conditions. Answer B is an example of performance
testing which is done to determine if the system has any problems meeting its performance requirements for
throughput, response time, number of simultaneous users, number of terminals supported, etc. Answer C is an
example of volume testing which subjects the software to heavy loads over long periods of time. CSQE Body of
Knowledge Area: VI.C.1
7. Answer A is correct. The functional baseline includes the initial, approved technical specification (system
requirements) for the product. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: VII.B.2
Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz for September 2002
1. Which of the following would be a role of the quality action team’s sponsor?
A. Directing the team including making assignments
B. Recommending quality improvement tools and techniques
C. Providing ongoing resources to the team
D. Arranging team meeting locations and other logistics
2. A software systems analyst has identified a way to improve the organization’s defined requirements elicitation
process. Which of the following should the analyst do first?
A. Change the way they personally elicit requirements in order to pilot the improvement
B. Update the requirements elicitation process definition to document the improvement
C. Document a lessons learned and post it on the intranet
D. Document the improvement in a change request and forward it to the process owners
3. Which of the following is NOT an element of the unified modeling language (UML)?
A. Data flow diagrams
B. Use cases
C. Interaction diagrams
D. State diagrams
4. Which of the following would typically be reviewed as part of a senior management project review meeting?
I. Details of upcoming tasks and inter-task dependencies
II. Changes to the project’s objective or business climate
III. Status of high priority project risks
IV. Project schedule status against milestones
A. III and IV only
B. I, II and IV only
C. II, III and IV only
D. I, II, III and IV
5. As a facilitator, you would recommend the use of a checklist when the team is trying to:
A. organize and categorize a large number of ideas from a brainstorming session.
B. analyze and organize the root causes of a particular problem.
C. ensure that all of the important items have been included in their discussion.
D. identify driving forces that help move towards reaching their goal & restraining forces inhibiting movement
towards their goal.
6. Which of the following is a characteristic of an inspection but NOT of a walkthrough?
A. Conducted by a team of peers
B. Focused only on defect detection
C. Evaluates a software work product
D. Attended by the work product author
7. Which of the following would NOT be considered a role of software configuration management?
A. Allocating system-level requirements to each software component
B. Creating or releasing baselines for internal use and for delivery to the customer
C. Controlling changes to the content of software components
D. Assigning unique identifiers to each software component
Answers to the Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz for September 2002
1. Answer C is correct. One of the responsibilities of the team’s sponsor is to ensure that the team has required
resources to adequately perform their function. The team’s facilitator is the expert on the use of quality improvement
tools and techniques and would make recommendations to the team on their use. The team’s leader would typically
direct the team, including making assignments, and would also arrange for meeting rooms and other logistics.
CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: I.C.3
2. Answer D is correct. Changes to a defined process should be done formally through a change request process
that involves the process owners. This allows the improvement to be appropriately analyzed as to its impact on the
entire quality system. A single individual should not personally deviate from the defined process or change the
process documentation without formal approval. Simply doing a lessons learned posting on the intranet will not
insure that the improvement idea is considered and implemented if appropriate. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area:
II.B.5
3. Answer A is correct. A data flow diagram is a graphical representation of how data flows through and is
transformed by the processes of a system. Data flow diagrams are not one of the elements of the Unified Modeling
Language (UML). CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: III.D.1
4. Answer C is correct. The senior management project review meeting would not review the details of individual
tasks and inter-task dependencies. This would typically be dealt with at the lower level project team status meetings.
CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: IV.B.4
5. Answer C is correct. A checklist can be used to ensure that all of the important items have been included in their
discussion. An affinity diagram can be used to organize the ideas into categories. Affinity diagrams can also be used
with defect data, customer quality requirements, audit observations or any other set of data that needs to be
organized into categories. A cause and effect diagram, also called a fishbone diagram, would be a good tool to help
the team analyze and organize the root causes of a particular problem. The force field analysis tool can be useful
when trying to identify driving forces that help move towards reaching their goal & restraining forces inhibiting
movement towards their goal. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: V.C.2
6. Answer B is correct. Inspections focus exclusively on defect detection while walkthroughs include both defect
detection and engineering analysis aspects. Both inspections and walkthroughs are peer reviews that are used to
evaluate software work products. The work product author plays a critical role in both inspections and
walkthroughs. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: VI.B.1
7. Answer A is correct. The allocation of system-level requirements to each software component is done as part of
defining the system and software architecture and is therefore a role of software development or systems
engineering not configuration management. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: VII.A.1
Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz for June 2002
1. The cost of fixing a requirements defect
A. will decrease as more and more of the product is implemented and tested.
B. will increase the later in the software development life cycle the defect is detected.
C. is dependant on the severity of the defect.
D. remains constant as development progresses.
2. Which of the following is an example of a second party product audit?
A. An organization’s SQA team auditing a sample set of its source code to verify compliance with coding standards
B. An acquisition team conducting a supplier qualification audit prior to awarding a contract
C. A customer team performing a functional configuration audit of a subcontracted software system prior to
acceptance
D. The FDA auditing a supplier of biomedical device software for compliance to government regulations
3. In a client/server architecture, the client typically:
I. manages the network resources.
II. centralizes storage of shared data.
III. runs on a decentralized computer.
A. II only
B. III only
C. I and II only
D. I and III only
4. The graph above reports the earned value for project ABC, which has been in progress for 5 months. Based on the
information in this graph, at month 5 project ABC is currently:
A. over budget and behind schedule.
B. over budget but ahead of schedule.
C. under budget and ahead of schedule
D. under budget but behind schedule.
5. Utilizing Cyclomatic complexity as a metric to measure the size of a software module is:
A. neither reliable nor valid.
B. reliable but not valid.
C. valid but not reliable.
D. both valid and reliable.
6. Which of the following is an example of a dynamic analysis verification and validation technique?
A. Running a spell checker on the user’s manual
B. Compiling a software module
C. Integration testing a software/hardware interface
D. Peer reviewing a detailed design document
7. The compiler and linker used to build the software:
A. are not considered configuration items and therefore are not placed under configuration control.
B. are not placed under configuration control because they are controlled by their vendor.
C. should be placed under configuration control because they are considered part of the product’s external
deliverables.
D. are potential candidates for configuration control depending upon requirements including the need to support
multiple release of the product.
Answers to the Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz for June 2002
1. Answer B is correct. If a requirements defect is detected during the requirements phase and it costs one unit to fix
(e.g., 3 engineering hours, $500) that same defect will typically increase exponentially in cost to fix the later it is
found in the life cycle. For example, if it is not found until the design phase cost increases because both the
requirements specification and the design that was based on that requirement have to be fixed. If the defect is not
found until coding, the requirements and design specifications and all of the code based on the defective requirement
have to be fixed. By the coding phase, test cases and user documentation may also have been written based on the
defective requirement that will also need to be corrected. If the defect isn’t found until the testing phases, all of these
work products will have to be corrected, retested and regression tested. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: I.A.1
2. Answer C is correct. A second party audit is where a customer audits its supplier. A functional configuration
audit is an example of a product audit, where the software product is evaluated for compliance to its requirements.
Answer A is an example of a first party product audit. Answer B is an example of a second party quality systems
audit. Answer D is an example of a third party audit (the FDA is not the customer of the biomedical device supplier).
CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: II.C.2
3. Answer B is correct. The client is typically an application that runs on a decentralized computer or workstation
and allows the localization of processing. The client typically downloads or accesses centralized data that is stored
on the server. The server also typically manages the network resources. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: III.A.2
4. Answer A is correct. The cost variance = BCWP – ACWP. A negative cost variance indicates that we are in an
over budget condition (i.e., the actual cost of the work performed (ACWP) is more than what was budgeted for that
work (BCWP)). The schedule variance = BCWP – BCWS. A negative schedule variance indicates that we are
behind schedule (i.e., the budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS) is more than the budgeted cost (amount) of
work we have actually performed (BCWP). CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: IV.B.3
5. Answer B is correct. Reliability is a function of consistency. Cyclomatic complexity is a reliable metric because
the Cyclomatic complexity of a module can be measured by different people (or the same person multiple times)
with the same result. A metric is valid if it measures what we expect it to measure. Cyclomatic complexity is a
measure of the control flow complexity of a module and not its size and therefore is NOT a valid measure of the size
of a module. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: V.A.1
6. Answer C is correct. Dynamic analysis involves the actual execution of the software product and evaluating the
actual results against the expected results. Testing is a form of dynamic analysis. Running a spell checker, compiling
a source code module and performing a peer review are all static analysis techniques. CSQE Body of Knowledge
Area: VI.A.1
7. Answer D is correct. Support tools like compilers and linkers used to create or support the software product
should be considered for placement under configuration control. For example, they should be placed under
configuration control, if necessary, in order to insure that past versions of the product can be recreated and
maintained. CSQE Body of Knowledge Area: VII.B.1
Certified Software Quality Engineering Quiz for May 2002
1. Which of the following standards defines a common rating scale that makes it possible to compare assessments
conducted using a variety of models?
A. IEEE/EIA 12207
B. ISO 15504
C. SEI CMMISM Continuous Representation
D. ISO 9001
2. When documenting the process for conducting an audit on-site visit, which of the following would be included as
part of the entry criteria?
A. The audit checklists are documented
B. The audit interviews are complete
C. The audit report has been approved
D. The opening audit meeting has been conducted
3. The diagram above is an example of:
A. a data flow diagram.
B. an entity relationship diagram.
C. a state transition diagram.
D. a use case diagram.
4. Based on risk exposure, which of the following risks would have the highest priority?
A. Risk A that has a 25% probability of a problem occurring that would cost $300,000.
B. Risk B that has a 15% probability of a problem occurring that would cost $400,000.
C. Risk C that has a 50% probability of a problem occurring that would cost $180,000.
D. Risk D that has a 40% probability of a problem occurring that would cost $250,000.
5. Coupling is dependant on:
I. The internal control structure of each module
II. The interface complexity between modules
III. What data is passed across the module interfaces
IV. The cohesion of each module
A. I and IV only
B. II and III only
C. I, II and III only