Deck 10: Information Systems Development

Question 1

The primary purpose of the requirements analysis phase is to ________.

A)eliminate obviously nonsensible projects before forming a project development team
B)identify the requisite skills needed in the IT personnel assigned to the project
C)determine and document the specific features and functions of the new system
D)investigate how much similar projects have cost in the past

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The initial step in the first phase of the SDLC is to ________.

A)assess the feasibility of the project
B)define the goals and scope of the new system
C)determine the schedule and budget for the project
D)form the project team

Answer 2

B

Question 3

As development teams become larger,the average contribution per worker ________.

A)increases
B)decreases
C)stabilizes
D)increases,but only marginally

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to Brooks' Law,adding more people to a late project ________.

A)makes the project later
B)decreases the overall cost
C)improves the quality of work
D)enhances the team's productivity

Question 5

The process of creating and maintaining information systems is called ________.

A)systems development
B)program development
C)systems definition
D)computer design

Question 6

As staff size increases,________.

A)the average contribution per worker also increases
B)diseconomies of scale tend to level off and eventually decrease
C)economies of scale consistently increase almost proportionately
D)more meetings and coordination activities are required to keep everyone in sync

Question 7

Adding more people to a late systems development project will make the project later because ________.

A)allocating tasks becomes easier
B)training new people slows down team members
C)analyzing the system requirements becomes complex
D)budgeting project costs becomes complicated

Question 8

________ feasibility concerns whether the new information system fits within a company's customs,culture,charter,or legal requirements.

A)Technical
B)Functional
C)Administrative
D)Organizational

Question 9

Developers in the ________ phase of the SDLC use management's statement of the system needs in order to begin to define a new information system.

A)system definition
B)requirements analysis
C)component design
D)implementation

Question 10

The bigger the system and the longer the project,________.

A)the lesser are the diseconomies of scale
B)the more the requirements change
C)the greater is the average contribution per worker
D)the easier the task of scheduling

Question 11

________ are IT professionals who understand both business and technology.

A)Systems analysts
B)Programmers
C)Business analysts
D)Beta testers

Question 12

Which of the following statements is true regarding the composition of the development team over the life of the SDLC?

A)User involvement is limited to the integrated testing and conversion phase of the SDLC.
B)During requirements definition,the team will be heavy with systems analysts.
C)During integrated testing and conversion,the team is made up of only programmers and designers.
D)During design and implementation,the team will be heavy with business users.

Question 13

Which of the following is true of systems development?

A)It has little need for human relations skills as tasks are performed by individuals,not groups.
B)It is exclusively a technical task undertaken by programmers and hardware specialists.
C)It is limited to the four domains of hardware,software,data,and procedures.
D)It requires coordinated teamwork of both specialists and nonspecialists with business knowledge.

Question 14

Compared to program development,systems development is ________.

A)narrower in focus
B)less comprehensive
C)broader in scope
D)usually technical in nature

Question 15

Which of the following statements is true with regard to the definition of requirements?

A)Requirements determination is a simple,inexpensive process as it is limited to interviewing system users.
B)Requirements should avoid specifying the volume of data to be stored and processed.
C)Requirements determination should ideally focus on software and data components.
D)Requirements include what is to be produced,as well as how frequently and how fast it is to be produced.

Question 16

The ________ approach is the classical process used to develop information systems.

A)rapid application development (RAD)
B)object-oriented design (OOD)
C)systems development life cycle (SDLC)
D)extreme programming (XP)

Question 17

During the requirements analysis phase of the SDLC,the development team will create a(n)________ in case the new system involves a new database or substantial changes to an existing database.

A)data model
B)prototype
C)archetype
D)illustration

Question 18

Information systems are never ________.

A)off-the-shelf
B)tailor-made
C)off-the-shelf with adaptation
D)made-to-order

Question 19

Which step in the SDLC process aims to eliminate obviously nonsensible projects?

A)Define system goals and scope.
B)Form the project team.
C)Assess project feasibility.
D)Plan the project.

Question 20

Which is the most important phase in the systems development process?

A)defining the goals and scope of the new information system
B)implementing the information system
C)determining the system's requirements
D)adapting systems to changes in requirements

Question 21

Software vendors usually bundle fixes of low-priority problems into ________.

A)patches
B)service packs
C)debuggers
D)system fixes

Question 22

Projects that spend so much time ________ are sometimes said to be in analysis paralysis.

A)in the system definition phase of the SDLC
B)on project scheduling
C)documenting requirements
D)designing system components

Question 23

Products in the beta test phase ________.

A)are generally fully functioning
B)are incomplete
C)are in the first phase of testing
D)are completely error-free

Question 24

During the ________ phase of the SDLC process,developers construct,install,and test the components of the information system.

A)requirements analysis
B)database design
C)feasibility assessment
D)implementation

Question 25

________ refers to the process of moving the business activity from an old information system to a new system.

A)System definition
B)Test plan
C)Parallel installation
D)System conversion

Question 26

In terms of software design,for ________,the team must determine candidate products and evaluate them against the requirements while for ________,the team produces design documentation for writing program code.

A)off-the-shelf-with-alteration software; custom-developed programs
B)off-the-shelf software; custom-developed programs
C)off-the-shelf-with-alteration software; off-the-shelf software
D)tailor-made software; off-the-shelf software

Question 27

The advantage of ________ installation is that if the system fails,the failure is contained within a limited boundary.

A)phased
B)parallel
C)pilot
D)plunge

Question 28

Normal processing procedures for system users are ________.

A)procedures to continue operations when the system fails
B)procedures for backing up data and other resources
C)procedures for using the system to accomplish business tasks
D)procedures to convert back to the system after recovery

Question 29

________ have the final say on whether a system is ready.

A)Managers
B)Systems analysts
C)Users
D)PQA personnel

Question 30

Which of the following statements is true with regard to system maintenance?

A)Software developers usually group enhancement requests and failures together.
B)IS personnel prioritize system problems on a first-come-first-served basis.
C)All commercial software products are shipped with known failures.
D)All organizations track system failures and enhancements using word-processing documents.

Question 31

Parallel installation is the ________ style of installation.

A)most preferred
B)riskiest
C)slowest
D)least expensive

Question 32

________ is the process of allowing future system users to try out the new system on their own.

A)PQA testing
B)Acceptance testing
C)Pretesting
D)Beta testing

Question 33

Systems development has a broader scope than computer program development.

Question 34

A test plan ________.

A)should not include the incorrect actions that users will take
B)should cause every line of program code to be executed
C)should cause only critical error messages to be displayed
D)should be constructed by PQA personnel alone

Question 35

Software developers group fixes for high priority failures into a ________ that can be applied to all copies of a given product.

A)service pack
B)debugger
C)patch
D)system fix

Question 36

Normal processing procedures for operations personnel are ________.

A)procedures to continue operations when the system fails
B)procedures for backing up data and other resources
C)procedures for using the system to accomplish business tasks
D)procedures for starting,stopping,and operating the system

Question 37

Because of the significant risks involved,organizations should avoid this conversion style if possible.

A)plunge
B)parallel
C)pilot
D)phased

Question 38

The easiest and cheapest time to alter the information system is in the ________ phase of the SDLC.

A)requirements analysis
B)system definition
C)component design
D)implementation

Question 39

In a ________ installation,the new system runs alongside the old one until it has been tested and is fully operational.

A)pilot
B)parallel
C)phased
D)plunge

Question 40

One of the reasons for SDLC problems is due to the ________ nature of the SDLC.This implies that the systems development process is supposed to operate in a sequence of nonrepetitive phases.

A)network
B)clustered
C)parallel
D)waterfall

Question 41

Systems development is easy and risk-free.

Question 42

The goals and scope of a new information system are determined during the requirements analysis phase of the systems development life cycle.

Question 43

One of the major challenges in systems development is changing technology.

Question 44

Organizational feasibility concerns how long it will take to complete the project.

Question 45

In a pilot installation,a new system is installed in phases across the organization.

Question 46

Beyond a workgroup of four or five people,diseconomies of scale begin to take over.

Question 47

Interviews are conducted with system users in the requirements analysis phase of the systems development life cycle.

Question 48

The third phase of the systems development life cycle is the component design phase.

Question 49

User involvement is redundant throughout the systems development process.

Question 50

The cost feasibility of a systems development project is usually expressed in exact figures or terms.

Question 51

The security needs of an information system are determined during the component design phase of the systems development life cycle.

Question 52

Brooks' Law points out that whenever you add more people to a project,it will always delay the completion of the project.

Question 53

In terms of software design for custom-developed programs,the development team identifies off-the-shelf products and then determines the alterations required.

Question 54

The easiest and cheapest time to alter the information system is in the requirements analysis phase of the systems development life cycle.

Question 55

The bigger the system and the longer the project,the more the requirements change.

Question 56

Test plans usually include not only the normal actions that users will take,but also incorrect actions.

Question 57

Testing is often called product quality assurance (PQA).

Question 58

Systems analysts are IT professionals who understand both business and technology.

Question 59

Information systems involve people and procedures,so they can never be off-the-shelf.

Question 60

The description of fixes and new requirements is input into a system maintenance phase.

Question 61

Typically,who are part of a systems project team? What are the roles of business analysts and systems analysts?

Question 62

What are the main tasks that are performed during the system definition phase of the SDLC?

Question 63

Why is systems development difficult and risky?

Question 64

Projects that spend little time documenting requirements are sometimes said to be in analysis paralysis.

Question 65

What is systems development? How is it different from program development?

Question 66

What is meant by technical feasibility and organizational feasibility?

Question 67

What are the four ways in which organizations can implement a system conversion?

Question 68

Explain how diseconomies of scale can affect systems development.

Question 69

What is a test plan?

Question 70

What are patches and service packs?

Question 71

In a plunge installation,the organization shuts off the old system and starts the new system.

Question 72

What are the tasks of system maintenance?

Question 73

All commercial software products are shipped with known failures.

Question 74

The software community has done much work to improve software development forecasting; therefore,scheduling and budgeting for new,large-scale systems is no longer problematic.

Question 75

What is beta testing?

Question 76

Actual systems development generally works in accordance with the waterfall nature of the systems development life cycle.

Question 77

What are the problems associated with the SDLC waterfall? Explain with an example.

Question 78

How is software designed?

Question 79

What are the phases of the systems development life cycle (SDLC)?

Question 80

What is the importance of the requirements analysis phase of the SDLC?