IPA IP 2020 Question 53
A question IPA Japan published in 令和2年度 10月 ITパスポート試験 公開問題 問53, translated into English. ITPEC is based on the same exams.
In examining the goals and other such matters of a project, which of the following is the technique that divides the results of ideas put forward by a group into groups and organizes them systematically?
Explanation
Affinity diagram — the technique that groups many collected ideas by their affinity and arranges the groups into a structure.
In the affinity diagram method (the KJ method), each idea or fact is written on its own card. Cards whose content is close are gathered into groups, each group gets a heading that sums it up, and the groups are then arranged and related to one another. Scattered ideas from a group session thus become a systematic picture, which suits settling something vague such as a project's goals.
Answer (b)
Why not others:
- •(a) Interview — collects information by asking people questions; it does not organize ideas into groups
- •(c) Brainstorming — the step that produces the ideas freely, without criticism; grouping and organizing them comes after it
- •(d) Prototype — a trial version of a system used to confirm requirements, not a way of organizing ideas
Key rule: Brainstorming generates ideas; the affinity diagram groups and structures them.
Project Management · AI-written, may contain errors
This question comes from the past questions IPA Japan publishes, translated into English by ITPEC Practice. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with IPA or ITPEC. See the original paper (PDF) or Report an issue.