PMI Professional in Business Analysis Free Sample Questions

20 free sample questions278 in the full practice test

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PMI-PBA Sample Questions

  1. Question 1

    A business analyst for a retail company is examining a preliminary requirements register, shown below. While the register captures the business need and priority, the project manager states that it's insufficient for sprint planning with the agile development team. Which critical attribute is missing from this list that is essential for estimating work and planning iterations?

    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: C

    While acceptance criteria, value scores, and dependencies are all important attributes, the most critical missing piece for sprint planning is the estimated effort or size (e.g., in story points). The development team needs this information to determine how many items they can realistically commit to in an iteration. Without an estimate of size or complexity, capacity planning is impossible.

  2. Question 2

    During the initial phase of a project to develop a new logistics management system, the business analyst is tasked with identifying all individuals who could be affected by the project's outcome or could influence it. The goal is to prevent scope creep later by addressing concerns early. Which activity is the BA performing?

    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: C

    Stakeholder analysis is the process of identifying project stakeholders and assessing their interests, influence, and potential impact on the project. This is a foundational activity in business analysis, performed early to ensure all relevant parties are considered throughout the project lifecycle, which helps in managing expectations and preventing scope creep.

  3. Question 3

    A business analyst is working on a complex project with numerous interconnected functional requirements. To ensure that the development and testing teams have a clear understanding of how a requirement delivers business value and to prevent 'gold plating', the BA needs to link each functional requirement back to its source. What is this practice called?

    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: B

    Requirements traceability is the process of tracking requirements throughout the project lifecycle. This involves linking requirements to their origins (e.g., business objectives, stakeholders) and to other artifacts (e.g., designs, code, test cases). It is essential for impact analysis, managing change, and verifying that the solution meets the business needs.

  4. Question 4

    Multiple answers

    A project team is adopting an agile approach. The business analyst needs to select techniques for prioritizing the product backlog that are collaborative and encourage a shared understanding of value among stakeholders. Which TWO of the following techniques are most suitable for this purpose? (Select TWO)

    Answer and explanation

    Correct answers: A, C

    MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have) is a collaborative technique used to reach a common understanding with stakeholders on the importance they place on the delivery of each requirement.

    Buy a Feature is a collaborative game where stakeholders are given a limited budget of play money to 'buy' the features they want most. This forces them to prioritize and discuss trade-offs, making it highly suitable for agile environments.

  5. Question 5

    A business analyst is preparing for a requirements workshop with key stakeholders from sales, marketing, and operations for a new CRM system. To ensure the workshop is productive, the BA needs to create a document that outlines the session's purpose, participants, agenda, and expected outcomes. What is this document called?

    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: C

    A workshop agenda is the key planning document for a facilitated session. It communicates the purpose, inputs, participants, time-boxed activities, and desired outputs to all attendees, setting clear expectations and ensuring the meeting stays focused and productive.

  6. Question 6

    A manufacturing company is experiencing a high rate of product defects. The management team believes the problem is with the assembly line, but they are unsure of the specific cause. A business analyst is assigned to investigate. Which technique would be most effective for the BA to identify the fundamental cause of the defects?

    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: C

    Root cause analysis (RCA) is a systematic problem-solving method used to identify the underlying causes of a problem. Techniques like the Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram or the 5 Whys are used to look beyond the immediate symptoms and find the fundamental issue, which is exactly what is needed in this scenario to address the product defects effectively.

  7. Question 7

    True or False: The primary purpose of a business case is to provide a detailed list of functional and non-functional requirements for a proposed project.

    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: B

    The primary purpose of a business case is to provide justification for undertaking a project or initiative. It focuses on the business need, benefits, costs, risks, and alignment with organizational goals. While it may reference high-level requirements, a detailed list is developed later in the project lifecycle.

  8. Question 8

    A business analyst is defining the desired future state for an organization's customer service process. The analysis shows that the average call handling time must be reduced by 20% and customer satisfaction scores must increase by 15% within one year. These statements are examples of what?

    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: B

    These are business objectives. They are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals that define the success criteria for the future state. They quantify the expected business value and provide a benchmark against which the solution's performance will be measured.

  9. Question 9

    A hospital is implementing a new electronic health record (EHR) system. The business analyst needs to understand the end-to-end process of patient admission, treatment, and discharge from the perspective of the nurses and doctors. Which elicitation technique would provide the most accurate and detailed insights into their daily tasks and challenges?

    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: D

    Observation (or job shadowing) is the most effective technique in this scenario. It allows the business analyst to see the process in action, understand the context, identify workarounds and pain points that users might not articulate in interviews, and gather rich, tacit knowledge. This provides a much deeper understanding than surveys, high-level focus groups, or potentially outdated documentation.

  10. Question 10

    After a series of elicitation sessions, a business analyst has compiled a large set of raw notes, user stories, and diagrams. To make this information useful, the BA must now structure it, identify relationships, and ensure it is understandable for stakeholders. Which task is the business analyst beginning?

    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: B

    The BA is beginning the process of requirements analysis and modeling. This involves taking the unstructured information gathered during elicitation and organizing, structuring, and specifying it. Modeling techniques (like process models, data models, and use cases) are used to clarify requirements, identify gaps, and present the information in a clear, unambiguous way.

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