Reports as a source of requirements

Name:

Date:

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A developer reads last year's help desk incident report to find common problems. What type of data is this?

A Secondary data, because someone else already collected it

B Primary data, because the developer is the one reading it

2. Which of these is an example of an existing report that can reveal user needs?

A An error log showing the same crash 300 times a week

B A new survey the analyst writes and hands out today

3. A sales report shows that online orders fall sharply at the payment page. What might this suggest?

A Customers definitely want the whole website deleted

B A possible need to improve or fix the checkout process

4. Before relying on a report, which check shows if the data is still current?

A Check the date the data was collected

B Check how long the report file name is

5. Which question best checks the reliability of a report?

A How many pages does the report have?

B Who created it and how was the data collected?

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1secondary data		AThe analyst did not check currency. Old data may not reflect current problems, so the needs could be wrong.
2error log		BA report of faults and crashes that points to problems users have with the current system
3Check that a report is current by looking at when it was produced		CData already collected by someone else, such as an existing sales report, that is reused to find needs
4Existing business reports can reveal a need, such as a product that is selling poorly		DReport date: 14 Feb 2021 (5 years old) - may be out of date
5Analyst uses a 6-year-old incident report without checking its date to define needs for the new system		EThe analyst did not check reliability. Without a known, credible source, the data may be inaccurate or biased.
6Analyst accepts a sales report from an unknown source with no author, and treats it as fully trustworthy		FSales report: Online orders down 30% since checkout page was added

Definitions

secondary data

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

_________ data: collected by someone else

Interviews: primary data Sales reports: _________ data

Check ________: is the report up to date?

Check ___________: is the source trusted?

Error logs reveal ________ and needs

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A type ← 'primary'

B source ← 'sales report'

C OUTPUT type, source

Question 2

A report ← LoadReport(sales)

B age ← MonthsOld(report)

C current ← age >= 12

D OUTPUT current

Question 3

A crashes ← 0

B FOR EACH entry IN errorLog

C IF entry.type = 'crash' THEN

D crashes ← 1

E END IF

F END FOR

Question 4

A IF reliable OR current THEN

B USE report AS evidence

C ELSE

D FLAG report AS unsuitable

E END IF

Question 5

A incidents ← LoadIncidents()

B top ← LeastCommon(incidents)

C need ← 'Fix ' + top

Answer Key

Reports as a source of requirements

Section A: Quick Questions

A — Secondary data, because someone else already collected it

A — An error log showing the same crash 300 times a week

B — A possible need to improve or fix the checkout process

A — Check the date the data was collected

B — Who created it and how was the data collected?

Section B: Match the Pairs

secondary data → Data already collected by someone else, such as an existing sales report, that is reused to find needs

error log → A report of faults and crashes that points to problems users have with the current system

Check that a report is current by looking at when it was produced → Report date: 14 Feb 2021 (5 years old) - may be out of date

Existing business reports can reveal a need, such as a product that is selling poorly → Sales report: Online orders down 30% since checkout page was added

Analyst uses a 6-year-old incident report without checking its date to define needs for the new system → The analyst did not check currency. Old data may not reflect current problems, so the needs could be wrong.

Analyst accepts a sales report from an unknown source with no author, and treats it as fully trustworthy → The analyst did not check reliability. Without a known, credible source, the data may be inaccurate or biased.

Section C: Definitions

secondary data — Data already collected by someone else, such as error logs, sales or incident reports. Analysts study it to find problems and needs, after checking it is current and reliable.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

Secondary data: collected by someone else

Interviews: primary data
Sales reports: secondary data

Check currency: is the report up to date?

Check reliability: is the source trusted?

Error logs reveal problems and needs

Section E: Spot the Error

A — A sales report was collected by someone else, so it is secondary data. Primary data is collected directly by the analyst. It should be 'secondary'.

C — A report is current only if it is recent. The test should be age <= 12, because >= 12 marks old reports as current.

D — The error log must be counted, so crashes should be increased each time one is found: crashes ← crashes + 1. Setting it to 1 resets the count.

A — Secondary data should only be used if it is both reliable and current. It should be AND, because OR accepts data that fails one check.

B — The most common incident shows the biggest problem and so the strongest need. It should be MostCommon(incidents).