ISQI ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Test Analyst (CTAL-TA v4.0) Sample Questions:

1. A simple DVD player is described in the following state transition diagram:
States shown in the diagram:

All round trips are feasible, even those that do not start at OFF. How many test cases will be needed for complete round-trip coverage?

A) 9
B) 12
C) 10
D) 11

2. You are working on a project to build a purchasing system. The main requirements for the system are that it shall:
* Allow users to enter details of items that they wish to have purchased and, from these details, create a purchase request.
* Take each purchase request through a workflow that will allow the requestor's line manager to approve the request, reject it or return it for clarification / modification.
* Forward approved requests to the Purchasing Department.
* Allow purchasers to find the best available supplier for each approved request and place the request on that supplier as a purchase order.
The solution is being developed according to the company's traditional V-model methodology. The requirements are clearly documented and include a business process model.
System testing has finished and the test manager has asked you, the senior TA, to identify any parts of the product that should be focused on during acceptance testing. The results of this may be used to adjust the acceptance test plan.
You are using defect cluster analysis, only counting defects with severity levels 1 to 3, ignoring low severity levels 4 and 5. Function point analysis was used for estimating, so you have used function points as the unit of size for the various functional areas of the product. No numeric estimates of expected defect quantities were made for them individually but, as a result of product risk analysis, these functional areas have been ranked according to the amount of product risk that was predicted in them, with risk ranking 1 being the highest and
5 the lowest; the thoroughness of the testing performed so far has been proportional to that. The results are presented in the table below.
Functional area
Total function points
Product risk ranking
Defects found
Purchase Request entry
2000
2
30
Purchase Request workflow
1500
4
15
Purchase Request authorisation
1000
5
25
Supplier identification
2000
1
30
Purchase Order creation
1000
3
30
Which functional areas would you recommend for more test focus in acceptance testing?
a) Purchase Request entry
b) Purchase Request workflow
c) Purchase Request authorization
d) Supplier Identification
e) Purchase Order creation

A) c) and e)
B) a) and d)
C) a) and b)

3. You are defining key words to test an application which will create a Purchase Request (PR) from details of goods that a Merchandiser wants their organization to buy. When valid details have been entered, the resulting PR will be sent to the Merchandise Manager for authorization.
You have a diagram in Business Process Modeling Notation and this section shows the initial steps in this process:

For the first process, when "Something is needed" , which option contains the MOST appropriate keywords for action and verification?

A) Required Goods / Check PR
B) Enter Details of Required Goods / Is PR Created?
C) Enter Required Goods / Check PR Created
D) Required Goods Entry / PR Creation Check

4. In which of the following circumstances is the transition from a high-level test case to a low-level test case MOST LIKELY to be deferred from test design to test implementation?

A) When the details required depend on the test execution schedule
B) When product risk analysis has not been completed
C) When the person who runs the test will not be its author
D) When specific test data are needed for the test case

5. You are working on an Agile project to develop a web-based online dating service that will allow members of the service to enter their profile, meet people who would be a good match for them, arrange social events with those people and to block people with whom they do not want contact.
The features for member profile entry have been delivered and tested. The current iteration will deliver profile matching. The regression tests for profile entry will be the acceptance criteria for its user stories. These tests have not been automated yet so you have decided to perform regression testing on the basis of a checklist.
Which checklist would be BEST in these circumstances?

A) A read-do checklist whose items are the acceptance criteria of the user stories for profile entry
B) A do-confirm checklist whose items are the acceptance criteria of the user stories for profile entry
C) A do-confirm checklist whose items are the acceptance tests of the user stories for profile entry
D) A read-do checklist whose items are the acceptance tests of the user stories for profile entry

Solutions: