CAPM Practice Test 2 — 30 Questions

Question 1

Which THREE of the following are tools and techniques used in the Control Schedule process? (Select exactly 3.)

Accepted Answer

Performance reviews. Performance reviews (B) are a tool and technique in the Control Schedule process used to compare actual schedule performance against the baseline, often through earned value management (EVM) metrics like schedule variance (SV) and schedule performance index (SPI). This helps identify deviations and trigger corrective actions.

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Rolling wave planning

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Critical path method

Question 2

A business analyst is validating requirements and discovers that several requirements conflict with each other. The project sponsor insists on including all conflicting requirements to satisfy different stakeholders. What is the best course of action for the BA?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a meeting with stakeholders to discuss trade-offs and prioritize requirements.. The business analyst's role includes facilitating stakeholder collaboration to resolve conflicts through trade-off analysis and prioritization. This aligns with the BABOK guide's requirement management process, where the BA helps stakeholders understand the impact of conflicting requirements and negotiate a prioritized set that delivers the most value within project constraints.

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Escalate the issue to the project sponsor and ask for a decision.

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Remove the conflicting requirements and proceed with the remaining ones.

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Include all requirements as requested and let the development team resolve conflicts during implementation.

Question 3

A project team is developing a quality management plan for a predictive software development project. Which tool is most appropriate to identify the root causes of potential defects?

Accepted Answer

Ishikawa diagram. The Ishikawa diagram (fishbone diagram) is used to identify root causes of problems. Option B (Pareto chart) is wrong because Pareto charts prioritize issues based on frequency, not root cause identification. Option C (Flowchart) is wrong because flowcharts map process steps, not root causes. Option D (Control chart) is wrong because control charts monitor process stability over time.

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Pareto chart

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Flowchart

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Control chart

Question 4

A business analyst is using a context diagram to model the scope of a system. What does a context diagram primarily show?

Accepted Answer

The system boundary and external entities that interact with it. A context diagram shows the system as a single process (or bubble) and depicts the external entities that interact with it, along with the data flows across the system boundary. It defines the scope of the system by making explicit what is inside and what is outside. This is the primary purpose of a context diagram in structured analysis.

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Internal architecture of the system

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Sequence of interactions between objects

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Detailed system processes and data flows

Question 5

Which THREE of the following are core values of the Agile Manifesto?

Accepted Answer

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.. The Agile Manifesto explicitly values 'Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.' This means that while processes and tools are important, the people doing the work and how they communicate take precedence. The Manifesto emphasizes that collaboration and human factors drive project success more than rigid adherence to prescribed procedures.

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Following a plan over responding to change.

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Contract negotiation over customer collaboration.

Question 6

A project team is working on a construction project. The project manager notices that the actual cost is consistently higher than planned. Which project management process is most directly responsible for monitoring and controlling costs?

Accepted Answer

Control Costs. The Control Costs process is directly responsible for monitoring project expenditures and managing changes to the cost baseline. When actual cost consistently exceeds planned cost, the project manager must use Control Costs to analyze variance, forecast future costs, and implement corrective actions to bring spending back in line with the budget.

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Estimate Costs

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Plan Cost Management

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Determine Budget

Question 7

Which THREE are principles of the Agile Manifesto? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Deliver working software frequently, with a preference to the shorter timescale.. The Agile Manifesto explicitly states 'Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.' This principle emphasizes iterative delivery and rapid feedback cycles, which are core to Agile frameworks like Scrum and XP.

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Use pair programming for all production code.

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Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.

Question 8

A business analyst is assigned to a project that aims to streamline the supply chain process in a manufacturing company. The project has a tight deadline, and the project sponsor wants to use a proven framework to ensure efficiency. During the initial analysis, the analyst finds that the current process has many manual handoffs and inconsistent data formats. Several cross-functional teams have conflicting priorities. The sponsor asks for a recommendation that balances structure with flexibility. As the business analyst, which approach should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Use the BABOK guide as a framework to define business analysis activities and deliverables.. The BABOK (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge) guide is the definitive framework for business analysis, providing a flexible structure of knowledge areas, tasks, techniques, and competencies that can be tailored to any project context. It directly addresses the analyst's need to define business analysis activities and deliverables while balancing structure with flexibility, as it is methodology-agnostic and can be adapted to tight deadlines and cross-functional conflicts. Unlike Six Sigma, PRINCE2, or Waterfall, BABOK is specifically designed for the business analysis role, making it the most appropriate recommendation for the sponsor.

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Adopt a Six Sigma DMAIC approach to reduce defects and standardize processes.

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Follow the Prince2 methodology for project management and business analysis.

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Implement a pure Waterfall approach with strict phase gates.

Question 9

A project team is adopting Kanban. They currently have a cycle time of 10 days and a throughput of 5 items per week. The team wants to improve predictability. Which action would most directly help?

Accepted Answer

Make the work items smaller.. Making work items smaller directly reduces variability in cycle time and throughput, which improves predictability in Kanban. Smaller items are easier to estimate, flow more consistently through the system, and reduce the risk of large items blocking the workflow, leading to more reliable delivery forecasts.

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Add more team members.

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Decrease the WIP limits.

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Increase the WIP limits.

Question 10

A financial services company is adopting Scrum for a critical compliance project. The team has six developers, one product owner, and one Scrum Master. After three sprints, the product owner is frustrated because the team has only delivered 40% of the planned features. The team says they are working full capacity but keep getting interrupted by urgent production support requests from the operations team. The Scrum Master notices that the team’s velocity is dropping each sprint. The product owner insists on increasing the sprint length from two weeks to four weeks to allow more time for delivery. However, the compliance deadline is fixed. The Scrum Master must recommend a course of action. What should the Scrum Master do?

Accepted Answer

Ask the product owner to prioritize production support requests as part of the sprint backlog and limit work in progress. It addresses the root cause of the team's velocity drop: unplanned production support requests. By asking the Product Owner to prioritize these requests into the sprint backlog, the team can formally account for the work, limit work in progress (WIP), and maintain a sustainable pace. This aligns with Scrum's principle of transparency and allows the team to make realistic commitments while still protecting the fixed compliance deadline.

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Instruct the team to work overtime to meet the original sprint commitments

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Increase the sprint length to four weeks to give the team more time to complete work

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Remove the Scrum Master position to save costs and let the team self-manage

Question 11

During requirements prioritization, the business analyst receives conflicting input from stakeholders. Which technique should be used to reach a consensus?

Accepted Answer

Delphi technique. The Delphi technique is a structured, anonymous consensus-building method where a facilitator collects input from experts through multiple rounds of questionnaires, sharing summarized feedback between rounds without revealing individual identities. This anonymity reduces the influence of dominant personalities and political pressure, making it ideal for resolving conflicting stakeholder input.

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Interviewing

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Observation

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Brainstorming

Question 12

Which TWO of the following are typically outputs of the Initiating process group?

Accepted Answer

Project charter. The project charter is a key output of the Initiating process group because it formally authorizes the project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. The stakeholder register is also an output of Initiating, as it identifies all stakeholders and their relevant information, which is essential for planning stakeholder engagement.

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Work breakdown structure

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Project management plan

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Risk register

Question 13

During a project, multiple stakeholders have conflicting requirements for a new software feature. The business analyst needs to prioritize the requirements to ensure the most critical ones are delivered first. Which technique is most appropriate for prioritizing requirements?

Accepted Answer

MoSCoW. MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have) is a prioritization technique that helps categorize requirements based on importance. Brainstorming, interviews, and observation are elicitation, not prioritization, techniques.

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Interview

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Brainstorming

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Observation

Question 14

During requirements gathering, the BA wants to ensure that each requirement can be traced back to its origin. Which tool is best for this purpose?

Accepted Answer

Requirements traceability matrix. A Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) is specifically designed to trace each requirement back to its origin (e.g., stakeholder, business goal) and forward to its implementation and testing. It ensures that all requirements are accounted for and helps manage changes. Other tools like business process models, use case diagrams, and stakeholder maps do not provide this direct traceability.

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Business process model

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Use case diagram

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Stakeholder map

Question 15

A software development project is facing high uncertainty in requirements. The team is experienced and prefers frequent feedback. Which project life cycle approach is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Adaptive (agile) life cycle. An adaptive (agile) life cycle is designed for environments with high uncertainty and evolving requirements, delivering value through short iterations with frequent stakeholder feedback. Because the team is experienced and prefers frequent feedback, agile approaches like Scrum or Kanban fit best — requirements are refined continuously rather than baselined upfront. This aligns with PMBOK's guidance that adaptive life cycles are chosen when change is expected and rapid delivery of value is prioritized.

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Incremental life cycle

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Iterative life cycle

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Predictive life cycle

Question 16

A project manager is estimating activity durations for a new software development project. The manager has data from three similar previous projects, but the new project is slightly larger in scope. Which estimating technique is most appropriate given the available data?

Accepted Answer

Analogous estimating. Analogous estimating uses historical data from similar past projects to estimate durations for the current project. Since the project manager has data from three similar projects and the new project is only slightly larger, analogous estimating is the most appropriate technique. It is quick, cost-effective, and relies on expert judgment and historical analogies.

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Parametric estimating

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Three-point estimating

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Bottom-up estimating

Question 17

A business analyst is creating a business case for a new project. Which of the following is a key component that must be included in the business case?

Accepted Answer

Cost-benefit analysis and financial metrics. A business case is the document that justifies the investment in a project, and its core component is the cost-benefit analysis with financial metrics such as ROI, NPV, IRR, and payback period. These quantify whether the project is worth funding and are the primary decision-making input for stakeholders.

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User stories and acceptance criteria

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Project milestones and deliverables

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Risk register and risk responses

Question 18

In which project management process group is the project charter developed?

Accepted Answer

Initiating. The project charter is developed during the Initiating process group, specifically in the 'Develop Project Charter' process. This is the first formal process that authorizes the project and gives the project manager authority to apply organizational resources. It precedes all planning activities and produces the charter as its key output.

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Monitoring and Controlling

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Planning

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Executing

Question 19

You are a business analyst working on a project to digitize the supply chain operations of a large logistics company. After completing the requirements documentation, you review the requirements against the organization's strategic goals. You discover that several key requirements directly conflict with the company's recently announced strategic objective to reduce carbon emissions by 30% within two years. Specifically, the proposed solution relies on increased just-in-time deliveries that would require more transportation, contradicting the sustainability goal. You bring this to the attention of the project sponsor, who is the VP of Operations. The sponsor acknowledges the conflict but insists on proceeding with the original requirements, arguing that the strategic goal is not feasible and that operational efficiency is more important. The project is already approved and has a significant budget. What should the business analyst do?

Accepted Answer

Document the conflict and escalate to the steering committee for a decision on how to resolve the inconsistency.. The business analyst has a duty to escalate unresolved conflicts that threaten strategic alignment. Recording the conflict and escalating to the steering committee ensures that decision-makers with broader authority can resolve the issue. Updating the business case to align with requirements would be unethical if it contradicts strategy. Proceeding without action ignores the conflict, and ignoring it violates professional responsibility.

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Record the conflict in the issues log and proceed with the project as planned, noting the risk in the risk register.

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Update the business case to align the project's objectives with the new requirements, justifying the deviation from the strategic goal.

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Ignore the conflict because the sponsor has the authority to make decisions, and the project has already been approved.

Question 20

During Sprint Planning, the Product Owner proposes a user story that is too large to fit in one Sprint. What should the team do?

Accepted Answer

Collaboratively break down the story into smaller, sprint-sized stories.. In Scrum, user stories that are too large (often called 'epics') must be decomposed into smaller, sprint-sized stories during Sprint Planning. The Product Owner and Development Team collaboratively break down the story to ensure each piece can be completed within a single Sprint, maintaining the Sprint Goal and timebox. This aligns with the Agile principle of sustainable pace and the Scrum Guide's emphasis on the Development Team's self-organization to determine how to deliver the Product Backlog items.

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Reject the story and ask for a smaller one.

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Accept the story and work overtime to complete it.

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Accept the story and commit to completing it in the Sprint.