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Sample Questions

The questions are reproduced from the ASQ website
(Answers are on bottom of page)

  1.  Perfectionism in project management is LEAST likely to result in excess

    1. Appraisal costs
    2. prevention costs
    3. internal failure costs
    4. external failure costs

 

  1. Which three of the following are considered key elements of Deming’s quality improvement strategy?

      2. I. An organization’s overall quality is in the hands of the organization’s management.
      II. The establishment of clear performance goals is required for effective improvement efforts.
      III. Quality problems are almost always a result of suboptimal systems, not the people operating in them.
      IV. Understanding variation and the use of statistical quality control methods is the primary tool to improve processes and systems.

 

    1. I, II, and III
    2. I, II, and IV
    3. I, III, and IV
    4. II, III, and IV

 

  1. Which of the following tools are appropriate for a quality engineer to use in qualifying a process that has variable data?
      2. I. x and R control chart
      II. Histogram
      III. c chart
      IV. p chart

 

    1. I and II only
    2. II and III only
    3. III and IV only
    4. I, II, and IV only
  1. A process is stable at a 1.5 percent nonconformity rate where the plant produces 200,000 units per month. The final inspection captures 1 out of every 10 nonconformities with only 1 out of every 25 nonconformities returned for warranty response. If the average cost for each detected nonconformity is $50/unit, what is the cost of quality?
    1. $20,400
    2. $21,000
    3. $150,500
    4. $204,000
  1. Which of the following costs decreases most dramatically as nonconformities approach zero?
    1. Prevention
    2. Appraisal
    3. Manufacturing
    4. External failure

 

6. Design reviews are used to analyze all of the following EXCEPT

    1. cost of manufacturing
    2. cost of field maintenance
    3. performance at acceptable levels
    4. customer demand for the product

 

  1. A major drawback of using histograms in process control is that they
    1. do not readily account for the factor of time
    2. are relatively difficult to construct and interpret
    3. require too many data points
    4. require too many intervals

 

  1. A sequential operation can best be depicted graphically by means of
    1. a histogram
    2. a scatter diagram
    3. a flow diagram
    4. an interrelationship digraph
  1. Two variables, x and y, are related in that x increases or decreases with y. Which of the following could best be used to depict this relationship?
    1. A control chart
    2. A pareto chart
    3. A scatter diagram
    4. An interrelationship digraph

 

  1. A quality information system is best defined as a
    1. historical collection of process and product data used to produce customer- or government-required reports on quality
    2. set of systematic management reports that cover product and process functions and usually include summary information on warranty frequency and the cost of quality
    3. method of collecting, storing, analyzing, and summarizing quality data to assist in decision-making
    4. data collection and reporting system that tracks key product and process indicators of quality

 

  1. The correlation coefficient for the length and weight of units made by a process is determined to be 0.27. If the process were adjusted to reduce the weight of each unit by 0.5 ounce, the correlation coefficient of the length and weight of the units made by the new process would be equal to
    1. 0.50
    2. 0.27
    3. 0.23
    4. -0.23

 

  1. A manufacturer of air conditioners wants to estimate the mean life (years from installation to replacement) of its units. The error level is set at 0.5 year, a desired probability (1 -) of 95 percent is selected, and the standard deviation of unit life is given as 6.0 years. If unit life is normally distributed, then the required sample size for the desired estimate is equal to
    1. 283
    2. 291
    3. 554
    4. 585

 

  1.  
Alternative
Result A B Total
X I II 80
Y III IV 120
Total 130 70 200

The correct value for the expected frequency of cell I in the contingency table shown above is

    1. 28
    2. 42
    3. 52
    4. 78

 

For questions 14-16 refer to the following information.

Management has asked a team of quality engineers to evaluate a sister company’s quality system in order to qualify the sister company to manufacture a critical component that has three characteristics that must be controlled. The characteristics are process temperature, 195 ± 5°F; component mass, 100 grams ± 7 grams; and chemical component, 3 percent or less.

A technical report submitted by the sister company stated that all of the characteristics complied with the company’s specifications. During review of the quality system, it was determined that the sister company does not have calibration procedures, only one mass measurement per component is performed per shift, and the analytical equipment for testing chemical accuracy does not work.

The team decided to measure 30 random samples from multiple shifts and to compare those measurements with 30 random samples taken from the sister company’s historical files. The data are summarized in the table below. Based on this evaluation, the quality engineers concluded that the sister company should not be used.

 

Temperature (°F)

Mass (grams)

Chemical Analysis
 

New

Historical

New

Historical

New

Historical

Mean

194.4

195.0

98.3

100.0

2.62%

None
Standard Deviation (n-1)

3.58

0.9

4.13

2.37

0.29%

None
Range

188-202

193-197

91-107

95-105

2.0%-3.0%

None
n

30

30

30

30

30

 

 

  1. Equality of the new and historical mean values can be tested most appropriately by using which of the following tests?
    1. Grubbs
    2. t-test
    3. Chi-square
    4. Dixon

 

  1. Based on the assumption that the temperature samples were taken from the same population, the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between means is tested at the 5 percent level of significance. Which of the following gives the calculated z-statistic and the appropriate decision regarding acceptance or rejection of the null hypothesis?
    1. -0.89; accept
    2. -0.89; reject
    3.  0.67; accept
    4.  0.67; reject

 

  1. A sample size of 30 individual values for each of the three characteristics (temperature, mass, and chemical analysis) allows the
    1. use of the Dodge-Romig sampling plans
    2. use of an approximation to a Gaussian distribution
    3. use of the Bernoulli Process Theorem
    4. calculation of Pearson’s coefficient of skewness
  1. x and R have been computed for a series of control chart sample subgroups. Which of the following expressions would be used to calculate the spread of the individual units drawn from the production stream?

    2. a.  x + A3s

    b.  x +A2R

    c.  x + 3R/d2

    d.  x +R/d2

     

  2. Of the following, the best way to prevent batches of material from becoming mixed or misplaced is to establish
    1. operator check sheets
    2. a material review board
    3. statistical process control
    4. material and status control

 

  1. The formal, documented, comprehensive, and systematic examination of a design that ensures requirements are met, identifies problems, and proposes solutions is known as a
    1. quality review
    2. design review
    3. design examination
    4. failure mode, effect, and criticality analysis

 

  1. A manufacturing control characteristic has a tighter tolerance than the product requirement. Such a tolerance would be classified as
    1. nonfunctional
    2. end-use
    3. critical
    4. major

 

  1. To determine the average number of nonconforming parts over time, which of the following attribute control charts would be most appropriate?
    1. c chart
    2. u chart
    3. p chart
    4. np chart

 

  1. A reference measurement is required to determine gage
    1. accuracy
    2. linearity
    3. stability
    4. repeatability

 

  1. The variation in the average of the measurements made by different operators using the same gage when measuring a characteristic on one part is known as gage
    1. linearity
    2. accuracy
    3. repeatability
    4. reproducibility

 

  1. Which of the following analyses is most often used to study the potential failures in a system?
    1. Failure analysis
    2. Fault tree analysis
    3. Reliability allocation analysis
    4. Pareto analysis

 

 

Answers:

1. d 7. a 13. c 19. b
2. c 8. c 14. b 20. a
3. a 9. c 15. a 21. d
4. a 10. c 16. b 22. a
5. d 11. b 17. c 23. d
6. d 12. c 18. d 24. b

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