CSQA Certification Sample Questions with Answers and More Tips – Part 2

In our previous article, we discussed all the important logistical details about the CSQA certification exam. Now, let’s move on to some sample CSQA exam questions. The exam consists of two parts: Essays and Multiple choice questions. In this article, we will provide you with 2 multiple choice questions from each skill category. Additionally, we will also give you one essay question each on Quality control and Quality Assurance, along with their respective answers.

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CSQA Multiple Choice Sample Questions

(The answer key is at the end)

Click here to view the image containing the CSQA Certification Sample Multiple Choice Questions.

Tips to answer multiple-choice questions:

• In my opinion, this is the easiest part of the examination. If you are thorough with CBOK this is a piece of cake for you.
• You don’t have to answer the questions sequentially, so move on if you don’t know something.

Skill Category 1: Quality Principles And Concepts

Q #1) The Quality attribute “Interoperability” is defined as:
a. The effort required to couple one system to another
b. The extent to which a program satisfies its specifications
c. The number of computing resources and code required by a program to perform a function
d. The effort required for learning, operating, preparing input and interpreting output of a program

Q #2) Money spent to train IT professionals in the concepts of quality is included in which category of the Cost of Quality:
a. Cost of production
b. Prevention costs
c. Appraisal cost
d. Failure cost

Skill Category 2: Quality Leadership

Q #3) Which of the following is considered a Quality Management philosophy as opposed to the more traditional management philosophies?
a. Competition between organizations
b. Motivation from fear of failure
c. Motivation from within (self)
d. Correct the error
e. The accomplishment of meeting quotas, the monthly or quarterly bottom line

Q #4) In a Quality Management infrastructure, which of the following is the responsibility of the quality council?
a. Commits resources
b. Forms teams
c. Develops plans
d. Oversees practices
e. Develops processes

Skill Category 3: Quality Baselines

Q #5) Which of the following groups normally does not conduct an IT baseline study?
a. Quality Assurance groups
b. Quality task forces
c. IT management
d. Internal auditors

Q #6) Which of the following is not one of the five maturity levels in the SEI CMM framework?
a. Repeatable
b. Testable
c. Defined
d. Managed
e. Optimized

Skill Category 4: Quality Assurance

Q #7) Which of the following is considered the most desirable skill for a successful Quality Assurance professional?
a. Systems knowledge
b. Business system design knowledge
c. Project management knowledge
d. Verbal communications
e. Knowledge of computer operations

Q #8) The Quality Control tool that is a technique used to quickly generate a quantity of creative or original ideas on or about a process, problem, product, or service is called:
a. Forcefield analysis
b. Benchmarking
c. Quality function deployment
d. Playscript
e. Brainstorming

Skill Category 5: Quality Planning

Q #9) What is the first question that needs to be answered when doing Quality Planning?
a. Where do we want to go?
b. Where are we?
c. How are we going to get there?
d. Who is responsible for what?

Q #10) Which is the preferred approach to Quality Planning?
a. Develop a quality plan – no updating needed during execution
b. Develop a quality plan – updating may be needed during execution
c. Ask the development team to do quality planning
d. Perform quality planning only when there is a quality problem
e. Develop a quality plan as a guideline for performing quality initiatives

Skill Category 6: Define, Build, Implement, and Improve Work Processes

Q #11) In the PDCA Cycle, the letter “C” stands for:
a. Control
b. Compare
c. Check
d. Continuous
e. Custom

Q #12> Who within the IT organization has the responsibility for developing IT policies?
a. IT management
b. Quality assurance function
c. Human resource function
d. Internal audit function
e. Quality control function

Skill Category 7: Quality Control Practices

Q #13) Which of the following types of Testing assumes that a path of logic in a unit or program is known?
a. White-box testing
b. Black-box testing
c. Incremental testing
d. Thread testing
e. Regression testing

Q #14) The “V” model of Testing shows two development paths, which are the two sides of the
“V.” These two processes are:
a. Developmental process and test process
b. The Rest planning process and test execution process
c. Requirements development process and programming process
d. Test planning process and acceptance test planning process
e. The System design process and system programming process

Skill Category 8: Metrics and Measurement

Q #15) Which of the following Data types would be used for ranking data?
a. Nominal
b. Ordinal
c. Interval
d. Racial

Q #16) Which of the following metrics are used to indicate the size of a program?
a. The number of programmers needed to build a program
b. Cost to build a program
c. Function points
d. The number of paths
e. Complexity of logic

Skill Category 9: Internal Control and Security

Q #17) A system of internal control in an IT organization is the responsibility of:
a. IT management
b. Quality assurance function
c. Quality control function
d. Internal audit function
e. Project managers

Q #18) Routines in a computer system that check the validity of input data are referred to as what type of control:
a. Environmental control
b. SOX control
c. Preventive control
d. Detective control
e. Corrective control

Skill Category 10: Outsourcing, COTS, and Contracting Quality

Q #19) What is the first step an organization should do prior to acquiring COTS software?
a. Define their requirements
b. Identify the cost
c. Develop an acceptance test plan
d. Evaluate the ease of use
e. Determine the reputation of COTS developer

Q #20) In a contract to develop software, what contractual section explains the guarantees provided by the contractor?
a. Deliverables
b. Vendor support
c. Warranty
d. Foreign attachment
e. Governing law

Here Is The Key

1. b The effort required to couple one system to another
2. b Prevention cost
3. c Motivation from within (self)
4. a Commits resources
5. d Internal auditors
6. b Testable
7. d Verbal communications
8. e Brainstorming
9. b Where are we?
10. b Develop a Quality plan – updating needed during execution
11. c Check
12. a IT management
13. a White-box testing
14. a Development process and test process
15. b Ordinal
16. c Function points
17. a IT management
18. d Detective Control
19. a Define their requirements
20. c Warranty

Have you tried answering these questions? If you got most of them right, that’s great! If not, don’t worry. These questions are based on your CBOK knowledge, so it’s a good idea to revisit your study materials.

CSQA Essay Or Short Answer Questions

In this section, you will have 75 minutes to answer 12 essay questions. There is no minimum or maximum word requirement for your answers, but it’s important to provide comprehensive answers and organize them in a clear and coherent manner, preferably using bullet points and diagrams when applicable.

The evaluation is not purely based on your English language skills, but it is always beneficial to use correct grammar and terminology relevant to the subject matter. While answering, try to be as specific and detailed as possible to showcase your knowledge.

Tips for answering the essay questions:

• Prior to writing your answer, make rough notes to ensure you cover all the relevant points.
• Practice writing elaborately, as this is a skill required for the essay-based portion of the exam.
• Use the standardized terminology relevant to the subject matter.

Note: The provided answers are samples only. You have the freedom to answer the questions in any way you see fit.

Quality Control: Skill Category 1 – Quality Principles and Concepts

Q #1) The producer and the customer often have different views on the quality of a product. First, define the producer’s view of quality and the customer’s view of quality. Second, list the characteristics of the product from both the producer’s and the customer’s perspectives.

Answer:

Producer’s view of quality: Meeting requirements is the producer’s primary view of quality. It means that the product is built in accordance with the specified requirements. The producer’s view of quality can be summarized by the following characteristics:

• Doing the right thing
• Doing it the right way
• Doing it right the first time
• Completing it on time and within the budget

Customer’s view of quality: Fit for use is the customer’s main criterion for quality. The customer’s view focuses on whether the product meets their particular needs and expectations. The following characteristics define the customer’s view of quality:

• Receiving the right product for their specific use
• Being satisfied that their needs have been met
• Meeting or exceeding their expectations
• Receiving good customer service and support

Quality Assurance: Skill Category 8: Metrics and Measurement

Q #2) The help desk in your computer operations department receives numerous calls from IT customers requesting updates on their work and seeking clarification on certain aspects. You have collected the topics addressed in these calls and want to analyze them.

You are tasked with the following:

Create a Pareto chart using the recommended process. Analyze the completed Pareto chart and explain your interpretation of the information it presents.

The following are the topics recorded by the help desk operators:

• The terminal printer did not work.
• Difficulty understanding instructions in the customer manual.
• Confusing computer messages.
• Difficulty performing correction steps.
• Inability to shut down the terminal.
• Inputting unrecognized codes.
• Inability to find topics in the customer manual index.
• Terminal printer running out of ink.
• Difficulty changing customer account name in software.
• Loss of one hour’s worth of input data.

Answer: (The following is a guideline on how to approach answering this question)

1. Conduct a brainstorming session to identify the causes related to each topic.
2. Rank the causes using the nominal group technique.
3. Determine the frequency of each cause’s occurrence.
4. Create a chart with frequency plotted against causes.
5. Arrange the chart in descending order of frequency.
6. Calculate the percentage of occurrence for each cause.
7. Apply the 80-20 rule to identify the significant causes.
8. Develop solutions to address the significant causes.

So there you have it. We hope you find this information valuable in your journey to become a CSQA. If you have any questions or need further guidance, feel free to reach out to us. Good luck!