I85PREP
⌘ K
CQIA study materials
CQIA study resources

CQIA practice questions

One question at a time. Build your CQIA understanding.

First 50 of 199 questions. Each one lists the choices, the correct answer, and an explanation. The checker at the top of this page saves progress in this browser when it is available.

Continue in the practice tool above to load more questions, 50 at a time.

Question 1Quality Basics

Which quality pioneer is credited with the 'quality trilogy' of quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement?

  1. Joseph Juran Correct answer.
  2. Philip Crosby
  3. W. Edwards Deming
  4. Armand Feigenbaum

Explanation

Juran organized quality management into three managerial processes: planning, control, and improvement, a framework commonly called the quality trilogy. The other pioneers are remembered for different bodies of work, such as the 14 points or zero defects.

Question 2Quality Basics

In Japanese quality practice, the term 'kaizen' refers to:

  1. Statistical sampling
  2. Breakthrough innovation
  3. Continuous improvement Correct answer.
  4. Zero-defect production

Explanation

Kaizen means gradual, ongoing improvement carried out by everyone in the organization, in contrast to a single large leap forward. It is a foundational idea in Japanese quality management.

Question 3Quality Basics

Prevention costs and appraisal costs are together known as:

  1. Costs of conformance Correct answer.
  2. Internal failure costs
  3. Costs of poor quality
  4. External failure costs

Explanation

Money spent to keep defects from occurring and to verify that requirements are met, namely prevention and appraisal, makes up the cost of conformance. Failure costs are the cost of nonconformance and arise when defects actually occur.

Question 4Quality Basics

Rework performed on a defect discovered before a product is shipped is classified as which type of quality cost?

  1. Prevention cost
  2. Appraisal cost
  3. Cost of conformance
  4. Internal failure cost Correct answer.

Explanation

Failure costs are grouped by where the defect is found, and defects caught inside the plant create internal failure costs such as scrap, rework, and lost time. Only defects that reach the customer create external failure costs.

Question 5Quality Basics

Deming's System of Profound Knowledge consists of appreciation for a system, knowledge about variation, psychology, and:

  1. Statistical process control
  2. Zero-defect planning
  3. Theory of knowledge Correct answer.
  4. Cost of quality analysis

Explanation

The four interdependent elements are appreciation for a system, knowledge about variation, theory of knowledge, and psychology. Deming argued that leaders need all four together to guide improvement.

Question 6Quality Basics

The control chart, a foundational tool of statistical quality control, was developed by:

  1. Joseph Juran
  2. Walter Shewhart Correct answer.
  3. Armand Feigenbaum
  4. Philip Crosby

Explanation

Shewhart developed the control chart at Bell Laboratories in the 1920s to distinguish common-cause variation from special-cause variation. Deming later carried the method to Japan and to organizations worldwide.

Question 7Quality Basics

Benchmarking is best described as:

  1. Best-practice comparison Correct answer.
  2. Reverse engineering
  3. Internal goal setting
  4. Third-party certification

Explanation

Benchmarking compares products, services, and processes with those of the best performers, whether inside or outside the industry, and uses the findings to drive improvement. It studies practices and performance rather than copying hardware.

Question 8Quality Basics

The performance standard of 'zero defects' was popularized by:

  1. W. Edwards Deming
  2. Kaoru Ishikawa
  3. Philip Crosby Correct answer.
  4. Joseph Juran

Explanation

Crosby held that the proper quality standard is doing the job right the first time, which he called zero defects. Deming, by contrast, warned that slogans and arbitrary targets do not improve a system.

Question 9Quality Basics

The observation that a small number of causes usually accounts for most of the problems is called:

  1. The Crosby zero-defect rule
  2. The Taguchi loss function
  3. The Pareto principle Correct answer.
  4. The Deming chain reaction

Explanation

Named after Vilfredo Pareto and applied to quality by Juran, the principle separates the vital few from the trivial many. Improvement effort yields the greatest return when it is aimed at that small set of causes.

Question 10Quality Basics

A process that had been stable drifts above its control limit, and a team acts to restore it to its standard level. In Juran's trilogy this activity is:

  1. Quality assurance
  2. Quality planning
  3. Quality control Correct answer.
  4. Quality improvement

Explanation

The control step holds a process at its planned level by comparing results with the standard and correcting deviations. Improvement, by contrast, lifts performance to a level never previously achieved.

Question 11Quality Basics

ISO 9001 is best described as:

  1. An award for organizational excellence
  2. A standard for quality management systems Correct answer.
  3. A product specification for manufactured goods
  4. A statistical method for process control

Explanation

ISO 9001 states requirements for a quality management system against which organizations can be certified. It prescribes how quality is to be managed rather than what a product must be.

Question 12Quality Basics

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is given to organizations that demonstrate:

  1. Certification status
  2. Performance excellence Correct answer.
  3. Growth in export sales
  4. Production cost savings

Explanation

The Baldrige program recognizes organizations for performance excellence judged against criteria covering leadership, strategy, customers, measurement, workforce, operations, and results. Applicants receive a written assessment whether or not they receive the award.

Question 13Quality Basics

Quality assurance is primarily concerned with:

  1. Inspecting incoming materials only
  2. Preventing defects in the process Correct answer.
  3. Logging customer complaints
  4. Catching defects after production

Explanation

Assurance is proactive: it builds confidence that requirements will be met by designing and controlling processes so that defects do not occur. Detection activities such as inspection come under quality control instead.

Question 14Quality Basics

A process performing at Six Sigma quality produces approximately:

  1. 34 defects per thousand opportunities
  2. 3.4 defects per million opportunities Correct answer.
  3. Zero defects by definition
  4. 66 defects per million opportunities

Explanation

Six Sigma corresponds to about 3.4 defects per million opportunities, a yield of roughly 99.99966 percent. The sigma level expresses how many standard deviations fit between the process mean and the nearest specification limit.

Question 15Quality Basics

Deming used the Red Bead experiment to demonstrate that:

  1. The system causes most variation Correct answer.
  2. Inspection removes variation
  3. Managers should rank employees by output
  4. Workers cause most defects

Explanation

In the experiment, willing workers using identical equipment produced similar results whatever effort they applied, so most of the spread came from the process itself. Deming used this to argue that management must improve the system rather than blame individuals.

Question 16Quality Basics

The Taguchi loss function departs from the traditional goalpost view of specifications by asserting that:

  1. Only the customer bears the loss
  2. Deviation from target adds cost Correct answer.
  3. Any in-tolerance unit is equally good
  4. Loss begins at the specification limits

Explanation

Taguchi treats quality loss as a continuous function of the distance between the characteristic and its target, so each increment of deviation adds cost even inside the tolerances. The goalpost view instead treats all conforming units as equally acceptable.

Question 17Quality Basics

When a company invests more heavily in prevention activities, the pattern usually expected is that:

  1. Every quality cost falls at once
  2. Appraisal and failure costs move together
  3. Total quality cost always rises
  4. Failure costs fall as prevention rises Correct answer.

Explanation

Prevention reduces the defects that generate appraisal and failure costs, so failure costs normally decline as prevention spending increases. Total cost of quality typically falls toward a minimum and may rise again if prevention is overdone.

Question 18Quality Basics

Which of these is a prevention cost rather than an appraisal cost?

  1. Final product audit
  2. In-process inspection
  3. Quality planning Correct answer.
  4. Calibration of test equipment

Explanation

Prevention costs are incurred to keep defects from occurring, and quality planning, which designs processes and requirements in advance, does exactly that. Appraisal costs are incurred to determine whether conformance has been achieved.

Question 19Quality Basics

Small voluntary groups of employees who meet regularly to solve work-related quality problems, known as quality circles, are most closely associated with:

  1. Genichi Taguchi
  2. Philip Crosby
  3. Kaoru Ishikawa Correct answer.
  4. Armand Feigenbaum

Explanation

Ishikawa promoted quality circles and the cause-and-effect diagram as ways to involve everyone in improvement. He also championed company-wide quality control in Japanese industry.

Question 20Quality Basics

Armand Feigenbaum's concept of total quality control is distinguished by its emphasis on:

  1. Bonuses tied to zero defects
  2. Final inspection by the quality department
  3. Quality as every function's job Correct answer.
  4. Sampling performed by specialists

Explanation

Feigenbaum defined total quality control as a system integrating quality development, quality maintenance, and quality improvement across all functions and levels of the organization. Quality therefore cannot be delegated to one department.

Question 21Quality Basics

Which tool translates customer requirements into technical design requirements?

  1. Cause-and-effect diagram
  2. Control chart
  3. Scatter diagram
  4. House of quality Correct answer.

Explanation

The house of quality is the matrix used in Quality Function Deployment to convert the voice of the customer into design characteristics and target values. The other tools analyze variation, causes, or relationships in data.

Question 22Quality Basics

During the Check step of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, a team should:

  1. Standardize the change
  2. Compare results to the goal Correct answer.
  3. Implement the plan
  4. Select the problem

Explanation

The Check step studies the results of the trial against the objective set during Plan, establishing what actually happened and why. Standardizing and spreading the change belong to the Act step.

Question 23Quality Basics

Deming's first point calls on organizations to create constancy of purpose toward:

  1. Continuous improvement Correct answer.
  2. Cutting supplier prices
  3. Maximizing quarterly profit
  4. Rapid market expansion

Explanation

Deming urged leaders to aim at long-term competitiveness through continual improvement of products and services rather than at short-term results. Constancy of purpose supports innovation, investment in people, and staying in business.

Question 24Quality Basics

Crosby's statement that 'quality is free' means that:

  1. Inspection can be performed at no cost
  2. Prevention costs less than failure Correct answer.
  3. Customers pay nothing extra for quality
  4. Quality programs need no investment

Explanation

Crosby argued that money spent preventing defects is far smaller than money lost to rework, scrap, and warranty, so improving quality pays for itself. The claim is about the balance of costs, not about spending nothing.

Question 25Quality Basics

ISO 9000 defines quality as the degree to which:

  1. Product features exceed customer expectations
  2. Process outputs match the planned schedule
  3. Defects fall below an agreed target level
  4. Inherent characteristics fulfill requirements Correct answer.

Explanation

The standard definition centers on requirements being fulfilled by the inherent characteristics of the object. It deliberately avoids equating quality with luxury or with schedule or defect-rate measures.

Question 26Quality Basics

Which quality leader defined quality as 'fitness for use'?

  1. Philip B. Crosby
  2. Joseph M. Juran Correct answer.
  3. Armand V. Feigenbaum
  4. W. Edwards Deming

Explanation

Juran's definition of quality as fitness for use focuses on how well a product or service meets the customer's actual needs and intended application. Other leaders built their definitions around variation, conformance to requirements, and organization-wide quality control.

Question 27Quality Basics

In the Six Sigma DMAIC sequence, which phase comes immediately after Measure?

  1. Define
  2. Analyze Correct answer.
  3. Control
  4. Improve

Explanation

DMAIC runs through Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control in that order. The Analyze phase follows Measure and is where process data are used to isolate root causes.

Question 28Quality Basics

A poka-yoke device is designed to:

  1. Measure the capability of a process
  2. Rank defects by their frequency of occurrence
  3. Record inspection results automatically
  4. Prevent errors from being made or passed on Correct answer.

Explanation

Poka-yoke, associated with Shigeo Shingo, is mistake-proofing: it makes an error either impossible to commit or immediately obvious before the item moves on. It acts on the process itself rather than on inspection or on data analysis.

Question 29Quality Basics

Which of the seven basic quality tools displays how often different values or categories occur by using bars whose heights represent counts?

  1. Histogram Correct answer.
  2. Scatter diagram
  3. Flowchart
  4. Control chart

Explanation

A histogram groups a data set into bins and shows the count in each bin, making the shape and spread of the distribution visible. Scatter diagrams show relationships between two variables, while control charts display variation over time.

Question 30Quality Basics

The 5S method of workplace organization consists of:

  1. Sort, set in order, shine, standardize, sustain Correct answer.
  2. Plan, do, check, act, standardize
  3. Safety, sort, simplify, standardize, sustain
  4. Sort, schedule, sample, standardize, sustain

Explanation

5S comes from the Japanese terms seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke, usually translated as sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain. The result is an orderly workplace in which abnormalities are easy to see.

Question 31Quality Basics

Scrap and rework discovered before a product reaches the customer are classified as:

  1. Internal failure costs Correct answer.
  2. Appraisal costs
  3. Prevention costs
  4. External failure costs

Explanation

Failure costs are divided by when the defect is detected. Defects caught inside the plant before shipment are internal failure costs, while defects found after delivery are external failure costs.

Question 32Quality Basics

The Japanese term kaizen refers to:

  1. Statistical sampling
  2. Continuous improvement Correct answer.
  3. Just-in-time delivery
  4. Mistake-proofing

Explanation

Kaizen means change for the better and describes ongoing, incremental improvement of processes by the people who perform the work. It is contrasted with occasional large-scale innovation projects.

Question 33Quality Basics

Which document, issued by top management, states an organization's overall quality intentions and direction?

  1. Quality plan
  2. Quality record
  3. Quality policy Correct answer.
  4. Quality manual

Explanation

The quality policy is a concise statement of top management's commitment and direction with respect to quality, and it provides the framework for setting quality objectives. The quality manual and quality plans describe how the system and particular projects are actually carried out.

Question 34Quality Basics

A customer complaint reveals that a shipment carried the wrong labels. The team revises the labeling procedure so the same error cannot happen again. This action is best classified as:

  1. Corrective action Correct answer.
  2. Verification
  3. Containment
  4. Preventive action

Explanation

Corrective action removes the cause of a nonconformity that has already occurred so that it does not recur. Preventive action addresses a potential nonconformity before it has a chance to happen.

Question 35Quality Basics

Patients at a hospital judge how often its scanner is out of service and how quickly it is repaired. In Garvin's eight dimensions of quality, this most directly reflects:

  1. Serviceability Correct answer.
  2. Reliability
  3. Conformance
  4. Perceived quality

Explanation

Serviceability covers the speed, ease and competence of repair and the handling of service complaints. Reliability, by contrast, is the probability of failure-free performance over a stated period of time.

Question 36Quality Basics

In the Kano model, a feature that customers do not explicitly request but that delights them when present and causes no dissatisfaction when absent is called:

  1. Indifferent quality
  2. Must-be quality
  3. One-dimensional quality
  4. Attractive quality Correct answer.

Explanation

Attractive or delighter attributes generate disproportionate satisfaction when delivered but are not expected, so their absence is not penalized. Must-be attributes work in the opposite direction: their absence causes dissatisfaction while their presence adds little.

Question 37Quality Basics

A team wants to know how much measurement variation comes from the operators and how much from repeated readings of the same part. Which study should it run?

  1. Process capability study
  2. Design of experiments
  3. Gage R&R study Correct answer.
  4. Acceptance sampling plan

Explanation

A gage repeatability and reproducibility study separates variation among repeated readings by one operator (repeatability) from variation between operators (reproducibility). Capability studies describe the process itself rather than the measurement system.

Question 38Quality Basics

A gauge produces readings that are tightly clustered around a value 2 units above the true value. These measurements are:

  1. Neither accurate nor precise
  2. Precise but not accurate Correct answer.
  3. Both accurate and precise
  4. Accurate but not precise

Explanation

Precision describes how closely repeated readings agree with one another, while accuracy describes how close they are to the true value. Tight clustering away from the true value means high precision with a systematic bias.

Question 39Quality Basics

A team suspects that coating thickness depends on oven temperature and wants to see whether the two variables move together. Which tool is most appropriate?

  1. Pareto chart
  2. Check sheet
  3. Affinity diagram
  4. Scatter diagram Correct answer.

Explanation

A scatter diagram plots one variable against another so that the direction and strength of a relationship can be examined. Pareto charts rank categories by frequency, and check sheets simply tally occurrences.

Question 40Quality Basics

In an FMEA, a failure mode is rated severity 9, occurrence 4 and detection 3. What is its risk priority number?

  1. 16
  2. 108 Correct answer.
  3. 27
  4. 36

Explanation

The risk priority number is the product of the severity, occurrence and detection ratings: 9 x 4 x 3 = 108. Higher values direct attention to the failure modes that should be addressed first.

Question 41Quality Basics

A fishbone diagram is used primarily to:

  1. Track whether a process is stable over time
  2. Organize possible causes into categories Correct answer.
  3. Show how often each defect type occurs
  4. Display the order of process steps

Explanation

The fishbone, or cause-and-effect, diagram branches a problem into major categories such as people, machines, methods and materials, then into specific potential causes. It is a structuring and brainstorming tool rather than a statistical one.

Question 42Quality Basics

In the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, the Act step consists of:

  1. Running a small-scale trial of the proposed change
  2. Standardizing the change or revising the plan Correct answer.
  3. Collecting baseline data on current process performance
  4. Defining the problem and the desired outcome of the project

Explanation

Act closes the loop: if the check shows the change worked, the new method is standardized and deployed; if not, the plan is revised and the cycle repeats. Trialing the change belongs to Do, and gathering data belongs to Check.

Question 43Quality Basics

Which ISO standard specifies requirements for an environmental management system?

  1. ISO 31000
  2. ISO 14001 Correct answer.
  3. ISO 9001
  4. ISO 45001

Explanation

ISO 14001 sets out the requirements for an environmental management system that an organization can be certified against. The other standards address quality management, occupational health and safety, and risk management guidance respectively.

Question 44Quality Basics

A product team converts customer statements such as 'I want my phone to last all day' into measurable design targets. This activity is best described as:

  1. Acceptance sampling of finished goods from each lot
  2. Value stream mapping of the current production process
  3. Benchmarking the product against a leading competitor
  4. Identifying critical-to-quality characteristics Correct answer.

Explanation

Critical-to-quality characteristics are the measurable product or process features that translate customer needs into design and control requirements. Benchmarking compares performance with other organizations, and acceptance sampling judges lots after production.

Question 45Quality Basics

An affinity diagram is used to:

  1. Determine the sample size needed for a study
  2. Group many ideas into natural clusters Correct answer.
  3. Rank causes of a problem in order of frequency
  4. Show the time sequence of steps in a process

Explanation

The affinity diagram, one of the seven management and planning tools, takes a large, disorganized set of ideas, often from brainstorming, and groups related items into themes. Ranking by frequency is the task of a Pareto chart.

Question 46Quality Basics

Which list gives the four elements of Deming's System of Profound Knowledge?

  1. Quality planning, quality control, quality improvement, and quality assurance
  2. Appreciation for a system, variation, theory of knowledge, and psychology Correct answer.
  3. Conformance to requirements, prevention, zero defects, and price of nonconformance
  4. Define, measure, analyze, improve, and control

Explanation

Deming argued that leaders must understand systems, variation, how knowledge is built, and human psychology. These four lenses together explain why isolated local fixes often fail to improve overall system performance.

Question 47Quality Basics

Which statement is one of Philip Crosby's absolutes of quality?

  1. Quality means conformance to requirements Correct answer.
  2. Quality is inversely proportional to variability
  3. Quality means exceeding customer expectations
  4. Quality is fitness for use

Explanation

Crosby's absolutes hold that quality is conformance to requirements, that prevention is the system that causes quality, that the performance standard is zero defects, and that quality is measured by the price of nonconformance. Fitness for use is Juran's definition rather than Crosby's.

Question 48Quality Basics

Juran's quality trilogy consists of:

  1. Plan, do, check, act, and standardize
  2. Quality planning, control, and improvement Correct answer.
  3. Design, manufacture, inspect, and deliver
  4. Define, measure, analyze, improve, control

Explanation

Juran described quality management as three interlocking processes: quality planning, quality control and quality improvement. Each has its own inputs, outputs and tools, and together they cover the full management cycle.

Question 49Quality Basics

In acceptance sampling, the producer's risk is the probability that:

  1. The sample is drawn without replacement
  2. The average outgoing quality exceeds the AQL
  3. A lot of unacceptable quality is accepted
  4. A lot of acceptable quality is rejected Correct answer.

Explanation

Producer's risk, also called Type I error, is the chance that a lot at or better than the acceptable quality level is rejected by the sampling plan. Consumer's risk is the opposite error: accepting a lot whose quality is worse than the lot tolerance percent defective.

Question 50Quality Basics

Which of the seven management and planning tools maps possible contingencies and countermeasures when a plan runs into trouble?

  1. Interrelationship digraph
  2. Matrix diagram
  3. Tree diagram
  4. Process decision program chart Correct answer.

Explanation

The process decision program chart starts from a goal, lays out the steps, and branches each step with possible failure events and the countermeasures for them. This makes it a contingency-planning tool for unfamiliar or risky undertakings.