CAPM Practice Question: Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts
A project team is working on a construction project. The project manager notices that the team is spending excessive time clarifying task responsibilities. Which project management artifact would most directly help assign clear ownership?
⚠ Common exam trap
CAPM often tests the confusion between scope-defining artifacts (WBS) and role-defining artifacts (RACI), so candidates who see 'task responsibilities' and jump to WBS because it also mentions 'work' pick the wrong answer.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
RACI matrix
A RACI matrix explicitly maps each task or deliverable to who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed, which directly resolves ambiguity about task ownership. Because the team is losing time clarifying who owns what, the RACI chart provides that clarity in a single artifact. The WBS decomposes scope into work packages but does not assign roles, and the Gantt chart only schedules activities.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Work breakdown structure (WBS)
Why it's wrong here
A WBS decomposes deliverables into work packages but does not itself name the person accountable for each package. It is tempting because it structures all project work, but it is correct for scope definition and estimating; a responsibility assignment matrix assigns ownership.
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Gantt chart
Why it's wrong here
A Gantt chart maps tasks against a timeline with dependencies and durations; it does not define who owns each task. It is tempting because it displays all project activities, but it is the right choice for scheduling and tracking progress, not for clarifying responsibility assignments.
- ✓
RACI matrix
Why this is correct
A RACI matrix maps each task to who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed, directly resolving the ambiguity the team is spending time clarifying. It assigns explicit ownership per deliverable, which is the artefact's core purpose.
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Risk register
Why it's wrong here
A risk register records identified threats, their probability, impact and responses; it contains no task ownership data. It is tempting because it tracks project issues, but it is the right choice for managing uncertainty, not for resolving confusion over who performs which task.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official PMI exam blueprint
This CAPM practice question is part of Courseiva's free PMI certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CAPM exam.