Professional Scrum Master Professional Scrum Master Scrum Theory and Empiricism Questions and Answers 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A Scrum Team notices that their Sprint Reviews consistently reveal misaligned expectations with stakeholders. Which pillar of empiricism is most directly failing?
- Inspection (Correct answer)
- Adaptation
- Transparency
- Commitment
Correct answer: Inspection
Inspection is the act of examining the product increment and progress toward the Sprint Goal, and failing to do so effectively leads to misaligned expectations.
Question 2: Why does Scrum require that increments be usable and meet the Definition of Done?
- To ensure transparency so that meaningful inspection can occur (Correct answer)
- To satisfy the Product Owner's acceptance criteria
- To allow the development team to take a break after each Sprint
- To reduce the need for Sprint Retrospectives
Correct answer: To ensure transparency so that meaningful inspection can occur
A done increment provides transparency into what was actually built, enabling meaningful inspection and informed adaptation decisions.
Question 3: Which statement best describes the relationship between Scrum events and empiricism?
- Each event is a formal opportunity for inspection and adaptation (Correct answer)
- Events are optional ceremonies that teams can skip if experienced
- Events exist primarily to generate status reports for management
- Events are designed to minimize the need for transparency
Correct answer: Each event is a formal opportunity for inspection and adaptation
Every Scrum event is specifically designed to provide a formal opportunity to inspect and adapt, which are core tenets of empiricism.
Question 4: A team has been hiding technical debt from the Product Owner during Sprint Reviews. Which aspect of empiricism is being undermined?
- Transparency (Correct answer)
- Adaptation
- Inspection
- All three equally
Correct answer: Transparency
By hiding technical debt, the team is undermining transparency, which is the foundation that inspection and adaptation depend upon.
Question 5: In Scrum Theory, what is the primary risk of making decisions based on incomplete information rather than what is known?
- It contradicts empiricism by replacing observation with prediction (Correct answer)
- It speeds up the development process too much
- It eliminates the need for a Scrum Master
- It makes Sprint Planning unnecessary
Correct answer: It contradicts empiricism by replacing observation with prediction
Empiricism requires decisions to be based on what is actually observed and known, not on speculation or incomplete predictions.
Question 6: How does the Sprint timebox support empirical process control?
- It creates regular checkpoints for inspection and adaptation (Correct answer)
- It ensures developers work at maximum velocity
- It prevents stakeholders from changing requirements
- It guarantees that all planned work is completed
Correct answer: It creates regular checkpoints for inspection and adaptation
The Sprint timebox creates a predictable rhythm of inspect-and-adapt cycles, which is fundamental to empirical process control.
Professional Scrum Master Professional Scrum Master Scrum Theory and Empiricism Questions and Answers 2
A Scrum Team notices that their Sprint Reviews consistently reveal misaligned expectations with stakeholders.
Which pillar of empiricism is most directly failing?