I received some questions from a reader and webinar attendee, which I’ll answer below:

Hi Rex,

I am Jason, and few days ago was in the webinar for Reviews. As promised, I have collated the lists of questions to ask based on the Study Preparation Guide for CTAL-TM that I purchased from RBCS recently. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require further information from me. Below are the questions and my comments:-

 71. An organization follows a requirements-based test strategy for most of its projects. Which of the following is the best example of modifying the test approach for a project based on an understanding of risks?

A. Past performance issues lead to an increased effort on performance testing

B. Test estimation is based on the number of pages in the requirement specification.

C. Test execution is outsourced to a testing company based on a low-cost bid.

D. Unit test effort is limited to ensure early commencement of system test execution.

I did not really understand this question very well. How does performance issues in the past are related to risk?

Jason, the reason that A is the right answer is because we are using past defect information (in this case, performance defects) to assess the likelihood of particular types of problems. 

84. You are managing a test effort that uses entirely reactive techniques, including a list of past bugs found in the field, a checklist of typical bugs for products using this technology, and exploratory testing based on tester experience. No written tests are developed prior to test execution, other than the list of bugs. Consider following statements

i Immune to the pesticide paradox

ii Repeatable for regression and confirmation testing

iii Useful in preventing bugs during system design

iv Cheap to maintain

v Makes no assumptions about skill tester skills

Which of the following is true about this particular testing strategy?

A. I and III are benefits of this strategy.

B. II and V are benefits of this strategy.

C. I and V are benefits of this strategy.

D. I and IV are benefits of this strategy.

Argument: I should not be part of the answer. “Exploratory testing based on tester experience” allows different test cases combination to be tested. If that is the case, why is that immune to the pesticide paradox? To my understanding, immune to the pesticide paradox refers to doesn’t have any effect to the pesticide paradox.

Since it is based on list of past bugs found in the field and checklist, I would consider II as tester can go through the regression based on these checklists.

The Foundation and Advanced syllabi are clear on the fact that detailed test cases–which do not exist here–are useful if repeating tests precisely for regression and confirmation testing purposes is needed.  So, II cannot be a benefit. 

The Foundation syllabus, in the section about general testing principles, says that the only way to overcome the pesticide paradox is to run different tests rather than repeating the exact same tests. Because all tests would be subtly (or even dramatically) different if repeated, especially if testers with different experience are used for subsequent executions.

125. You manage a test team for a bank. Your test team uses two primary test strategies, checklist-based and dynamic. As its checklist, your team has a list of main areas in which the test team, in-house users, or bank customers have reported defects on past releases. For the dynamic testing, it employs members of the test team with experience in the bank branches and back-office to do exploratory testing.

Based on this information alone, which of the following is an improvement that you would expect from a STEP assessment?

A. Get involved earlier in the lifecycle

B. Analyse requirements specifications

C. Run only scripted tests.

D. Improve the office environment.

The answer given in the guide is B. Analyse requirements specification. Could you please elaborate the reason to this answer?

Yes.  The reason is that, as mentioned in the Advanced syllabus, STEP is based on an assumption that requirements analysis and requirements-based testing will occur.

Looking forward hearing from you soon. Thanks.

I hope this is helpful.

Tags: advanced software testing, ISTQB, ISTQB certification

This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2012 at 4:26 PM by Rex Black and is filed under ISTQB certification, software test skills, software testing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.