PMI PBA Certification PMI-PBA Certification Elicitation 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which elicitation technique involves a business analyst accompanying a user through their daily tasks to observe work in its natural environment?
- Interface analysis
- Observation / job shadowing (Correct answer)
- Benchmarking
- Focus group
Correct answer: Observation / job shadowing
Observation (job shadowing) allows the BA to see actual workflows firsthand, uncovering tacit knowledge stakeholders may not think to mention.
Question 2: An organization wants to identify requirements by examining competitor products and industry best practices. Which technique applies?
- Brainstorming
- Benchmarking (Correct answer)
- Interface analysis
- Prototyping
Correct answer: Benchmarking
Benchmarking compares an organization's processes or products against competitors or industry standards to identify improvement opportunities.
Question 3: In PMI-PBA, what is the outcome of a successful elicitation session called?
- Elicitation results (Correct answer)
- Stakeholder register update
- Business requirements document
- Project charter amendment
Correct answer: Elicitation results
Elicitation results are the information gathered during elicitation activities, which are later confirmed and transformed into requirements.
Question 4: Which question type is MOST useful for uncovering hidden assumptions during elicitation?
- Closed-ended questions
- Leading questions
- Probing questions (Correct answer)
- Hypothetical questions
Correct answer: Probing questions
Probing questions dig deeper into responses to surface underlying assumptions and unstated needs.
Question 5: A stakeholder provides a requirement but cannot explain the business reason behind it. What should the BA do?
- Accept the requirement as stated to maintain stakeholder trust
- Document the requirement with a note that rationale is unknown
- Investigate the underlying business need to validate the requirement (Correct answer)
- Remove the requirement until rationale is provided
Correct answer: Investigate the underlying business need to validate the requirement
Understanding the business rationale ensures requirements trace to real business needs and prevents unnecessary or misaligned features.
Question 6: What is the key difference between elicitation and requirements gathering?
- Elicitation is passive; requirements gathering is active
- Elicitation actively draws out needs; gathering implies passively collecting stated requirements (Correct answer)
- Requirements gathering includes analysis; elicitation does not
- They are interchangeable terms with no practical difference
Correct answer: Elicitation actively draws out needs; gathering implies passively collecting stated requirements
Elicitation implies an active, skilled process of uncovering unstated needs, while 'gathering' suggests simply collecting what stakeholders volunteer.
Question 7: A project is in an agile environment. Which elicitation practice is MOST aligned with agile principles?
- Conducting a single comprehensive requirements workshop at project start
- Iterative elicitation tied to each sprint or iteration (Correct answer)
- Completing all elicitation before development begins
- Relying solely on written documents to capture requirements
Correct answer: Iterative elicitation tied to each sprint or iteration
Agile favors iterative elicitation aligned with sprints to allow requirements to evolve based on continuous feedback.
PMI PBA Certification PMI-PBA Certification Elicitation 3
Which elicitation technique involves a business analyst accompanying a user through their daily tasks to observe work in its natural environment?