School of Informatics & IT

Systems Analysis  
AY 2010/2011 April Semester 

Tutorial 2 & 3
Fact Finding Strategies & Techniques

Preparation
1. Read Chapter 6, Systems Analysis & Design for the Global Enterprise, Whitten, Bentley,
7th Edition, Mcgraw-Hill. (2007).

Structured Questions
Case 1
This is the first interview report filed by one of your systems analysis team members:
“In my opinion, the interview went very well. The interviewee allowed me to talk with him for
an hour and a half. He told me the whole history of the business, which was very interesting. It
was like listening to a story, or watching an engaging movie. The subject also mentioned that
things have not changed all that much since he has been with the firm, which is about 10 years.
We are meeting again soon to finish the interview, since we did not have time to go into the
questions I prepared.”

1. Critique the interview report, and the interview session itself.

The interview did not go well. The objectives were not met. The interview exceeded
the time limit. Prepared questions were not addressed.

2. What information is extraneous (striking) to the interview report?

The interviewee spent one and a half hour talking about the history of the company which
meant that that the interviewer was not able to take control of the interview

The most flagrant example on extraneous information is the complete history of the
firm. This information should have been known before the interview began.
Discussing it during the interview wasted valuable time

3. If what is reported actually occurred, suggest some ways that will help your teammate
conduct a better interview next time.
Always be in control of the interview. Ask specific closed end questions.

For the next interview, he could use closed questions, establish control of the
interview early on, and outline the purpose of the interview.

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4. Propose to your teammate a suitable interview structure for a more efficient interview.
Start off with a light tone. Pyramid structure, funnel structure.
The teammate could also use a Pyramid structure when posing the questions. In
such a structure, you start the interview by asking questions that will give specific
answers eg. Yes or No. When necessary, you would probe further by asking
questions that allow the interviewee to express himself more freely, express his
opinions, etc.
Funnel: opposite of pyramid. Example, when you are not sure of the interviewee’s
feelings about something, you field general, non-threatening questions then go on to
questions that are more specific, and allow you to probe further
Diamond: Combination of Funnel and Pyramid.

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Case 2
Ms. Jessica Alba is the Accounts Receivable (inflow of cash) manager. You have been assigned
to do a study of Ms. Alba’s current billing system, and you need to solicit (obtain) facts from
her subordinates. Ms. Alba has expressed her concern that, although she wishes to support you
in your fact-finding efforts, her people are extremely busy and must get their jobs done.
5. Write a memo to Ms. Jessica Alba describing a fact-finding strategy that you could follow to
maximize your fact-finding while minimizing the release time required for her subordinates.
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True or False Questions

6. Structured interviews tend to involve asking open-ended questions. (True/ False)
7. Interviewing is highly dependent on the systems analyst’s human relations skills.
(True/False)
8. The following is an example of a closed-ended question: “Who are the individuals
performing the credit checks?” (True/False)

Multiple Choice Questions

9. Which of the following types of questions should not be asked on an interview?
A. closed-ended questions
B. biased questions
C. open-ended questions
D. loaded questions
E. both (b) and (d)
10. The process of requirements discovery consists of the following activities, except
A. requirements management
B. sampling of existing documentation, forms and files
C. requirements discovery
D. problem discovery and analysis
E. documenting and analyzing requirements