Chapter 1 - Systems Engineering Introduction

Question 1

What’s is the ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 definition of SE?
A: A transdisciplinary and integrative approach to enable the successful realisation, use, and retirement of engineered systems, using systems principles and concepts, and scientific, technological, and management methods.
B: The art and science of developing an operable system capable of meeting requirements within often opposed constraints.
C: An interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles.
D: A methodical, multi-disciplinary approach for the design, realization, technical management, operations, and retirement of a system.

Answer 1

A

INCOSE Handbook pg1

Question 2

What is the ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 definition of a system?
A: A combination of elements that function together to produce the capability required to meet a need.
B: An arrangement of parts and elements that together exhibit behaviour or meaning that the individual constituents do not.
C: A set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network; a complex whole.
D: A group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole.

Answer 2

B

INCOSE handbook pg2

Question 3

What is an ‘Engineered System’?
A: A combination of components that work in synergy to collectively perform a useful function.
B: A system defined through scientific methods.
C: A complex socio-technical system that is designed, developed, and actively managed by humans in order to deliver value to stakeholders.
D: A system designed or adapted to interact with an anticipated operational environment to achieve one or more intended purposes while complying with applicable constraints.

Answer 3

D

INCOSE handbook pg3

Question 4

A “System Boundary” of a System is:
A) “line of demarcation” between the system itself and its greater context.
B) Boundary of a System with the outside world.
C) Border between the system and its external interfaces
D) “line of demarcation” of a system

Answer 4

A) “line of demarcation” between the system itself and its greater context.

Question 5

What is Emergence in a system?
A) The development of particular patterns, properties, or behaviors in parts of complex systems.
B) The desirable or undesirable product of Systems element interaction
C) Properties of the system.
D) A Consequence of the fundamental system concepts of holism and interaction

Answer 5

B) The desirable or undesirable product of Systems element interaction

Question 6

What is a System Attribute?
A) An observable characteristic or property of the system.
B) An observable characteristic or property of the system and interacting systems.
C) The fundamental parts that make a particular system what it is.
D) An inherent property of an entity that can be distinguished quantitatively or qualitatively only by automated means.

Answer 6

A) An observable characteristic or property of the system.

Question 7

The 3 major types of baselines at the system level are:
A) Integrated Baseline
B) Product Baseline
C) Allocated Baseline
D) Initial Baseline
E) Functional Baseline
F) System Baseline

Answer 7

B, C, E

Question 8

This document is a user-oriented document that describes system characteristics from the user’s viewpoint (choose 1):
A) ConOps
B) OpsCon
C) StReq
D) SRS

Answer 8

B) OpsCon

Question 9

The life cycle of every system includes the following aspects (choose 3):
A) Holistic
B) Cost
C) Technical
D) Management
E) Business
F) Budget

Answer 9

D, E, F

Question 10

A Measurement is the:
A) Measured Attribute of a System
B) Conclusion of a system process in which the SOI interacts with an observation system under specific conditions
C) Outcome of a process in which the SOI interacts with an observation system under specified conditions
D) determination of length

Answer 10

C) Outcome of a process in which the SOI interacts with an observation system under specified conditions

Question 11

What is the difference between a black box/white box system representation?
A) The black box is based on an external view (attributes). The white box is based on an internal view of the system (attributes and structure of the elements).
B) The black box is based on an internal view of the system (attributes and structure of the elements). The white box is is based on an external view (attributes)

Answer 11

A) The black box is based on an external view (attributes). The white box is based on an internal view of the system (attributes and structure of the elements).

Question 12

Define an atomic system element:
A) The smallest possible element
B) An element that can be further decomposed
C) An element that cannot be further decomposed

Answer 12

C) An element that cannot be further decomposed

Question 13

A “System of Systems” is:
A) a SOI whose elements are managerially and/or operationally dependent systems.
B) A System of Systems whose elements are managerially and/or operationally independent systems.
C) a SOI whose elements are managerially independent systems
D) a SOI whose elements are managerially and/or operationally independent systems.

Answer 13

D) a SOI whose elements are managerially and/or operationally independent systems.

Question 14

What is the The Systems Engineering Handbook V5.0 is written in accordance with? (choose 2):
A) ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765
B) Systems Engineering Book of Knowledge
C) ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288
D) Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge
E) ISO/IEC/IEEE 24675

Answer 14

C) ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288
D) Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge

Question 15

Which of the following are types of uncertainty (choose 2):
A) Cognitive
B) Epistemic
C) Psychological
D) Unconscious
E) Aleatory

Answer 15

B) Epistemic
E) Aleatory

Question 16

Which of the following are guidance proposition sources (choose 3):
A) Heuristics
B) Standards
C) Conventions
D) Models
E) Configurations

Answer 16

A) Heuristics
C) Conventions
D) Models

Question 17

The functionality of a sytem is typically expressed in terms of what?:
A) The interfaces of the system with its operating environment
B) The elements of the system with its operating environment
C) The interactions of the system with its operating environment
D) The interactions of the system with its operating elements

Answer 17

C) The interactions of the system with its operating environment

Question 18

Interoperating systems are:
A) Interfacing systems that interface with the SoI in its operational environment to perform a common function that supports the SoI’s primary purpose
B) Interacting systems that interface with the SoI in its operational environment to perform a common function that supports the SoI’s primary purpose
C) Interoperating systems that interface with the SoI in its operational environment to perform a common function that supports the operational goals
D) Interfacing systems that interact with the SoI in its operational boundaries to perform a common function that supports the operational goals

Answer 18

A) Interfacing systems that interface with the SoI in its operational enviroment to perform a common function that supports the SoI’s primary purpose

Question 19

What is the optimum range of SE effort as a % of the total cost?
A) 4 - 8%
B) 8 - 12%
C) 10-14%
D) 20 - 25%

Answer 19

C

INCOSE handbook p.6

Question 20

What is the ROI of introducing SE activities to a project, if there currently are none?
A) 3.5:1
B) 7:1
C) 10:1
D) 2:1

Answer 20

B

INCOSE Handbook pg6

Question 21

What is the ROI of additional SE activities to a project, if already at the median level of SE effort?
A) 3.5:1
B) 7:1
C) 10:1
D) 2:1

Answer 21

A

INCOSE Handbook pg6

Question 22

How much of the Life Cycle Costs (LCC) have typically been committed at the point 20% of the project costs have been accrued?
A) 80%
B) 60%
C) 40%
D) 20%

Answer 22

A

INCOSE handbook pg7

Question 23

What is the system environment or context?
A) A set of systems that interact with each other.
B) A SOI with sub-systems that interact.
C) A collection of elements that specifically do not belong to the system but do interact with thte system.

Answer 23

C

INCOSE handbook pg8

Question 24

What is the system architecture as defined by ISO/IEC/IEEE 42020?
A) Defines a comprehensive solution based on principles, concepts, and properties logically related to and consistent with each other.
B) The fundamental concepts or properties of an entity in its environment and governing principles for the realisation and evolution of this entity and its realted life cycle processes.
C) The conceptual model that defines the structure, behavior, and more views of a system.
D) The process of making high-level decisions about the organization of a system, including the selection of hardware and software components, the design of interfaces, and the overall system structure

Answer 24

B

INCOSE handbook pg8

Question 25

What are the types of uncertainty?
A) Epistemic and Ambiguity
B) Epistemic and Aleatory
C) Aleatory and Ontological
D) Risk, Ambiguity, and Aleatory

Answer 25

B

INCOSE handbook pg15

Question 26

What is the difference between the types of uncertaintiy?
A) Lack of knowledge vs Randomness
B) Risk vs Ambiguity
C) Avoidable vs unavoidable
D) Judgement vs Factual

Answer 26

A

INCOSE handbook pg15

Question 27

What is cognitive bias?
A) A systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment.
B) A term that describes the ways we make decisions with perfect information, often relying on heuristics and biases.
C) Mental errors in judgement under uncertainty caused by our simplified information processing strategies (heuristics) and are consistent and predictable.
D) Mental errors in judgement under uncertainty caused by our simplified information processing strategies (heuristics) and are inconsistent and unpredictable.

Answer 27

C

INCOSE handbook pg17

Question 28

What are common cognitive bias’s?
A) Framing and Pessimism
B) Anchoring and Availability
C) Motivaitonal and Self-serving
D) Authority and Assumption
E) Rankism and Performance

Answer 28

B

INCOSE handbook pg17

Extra points if you can pick out the ones that are correct in the other answers…

Question 29

Identify characterisitcs of an SE principle in the below answers (Choose two)?
A) Transcends a paritcular life cycle model or stage
B) Is not a “how to” statement
C) Explains who does what
D) Is simple
E) Trancends time and space

Answer 29

A & B

INCOSE handbook pg17

What are the others? (7 in total)

Question 30

What are heuristics?
A) The study and use of heuristic techniques
B) Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that simplify decision-making and problem-solving
C) A way to pass on accumulated wisdom, so that practitioners can gain insight and learn from past work.
D) Optimised decision making

Answer 30

C

INCOSE handbook pg20

Question 31

What are the goals of Systems Science? (chosoe two)
A) To develop an understanding between all disciplines
B) Identifying, exploring, and understanding pattern of behaviour crossing disciplinary fields and areas of application.
C) To model scientific theories through a systems approach.
D) Establishing a general theory applicable to all types of systems whether physical, natural, engineered or social.
E) To make implicit what systems thinkers know explicitly.

Answer 31

B & D

INCOSE handbook pg22

Question 32

What is a guiding proposition?
A) Guiding propositions provide guidance for purposeful judgement or action in a context, offering a wider perspective to that of a principle or a heuristic.
B) A proposal that guides us through the systems thinking process.
C) The principles that drive a decision wihtin SE.
D) A principle that transcends the world view of the system

Answer 32

A

INCOSE handbook pg23

Question 33

What are the four underlying rules of systems thinking?
A) Distincitons, Systems, Interfaces, Views
B) Relatable, Traceability, Hierarchy, Perspecives
C) Systems, Interfaces, Views, Variation
D) Distinctions, Systems, Realtionships, Perspectives

Answer 33

D

INCOSE handbook pg23

Question 34

15288 and the INCOSE Handbook draw from this basic definition of a system (choose 1):
A) An entity that is best understood by considering its constituent elements.
B) A system is a purposeful whole that consists of interacting parts.
C) A set of connected things or parts forming a complex whole.

Answer 34

B) A system is a purposeful whole that consists of interacting parts.

Question 35

A “variable” is (choose 1):
A) a measurable element in a domain
B) a symbol or name representing a system state
C) the value of an attribute
D) an independently varying value
E) a symbol or name that identifies an attribute

Answer 35

B) a symbol or name representing a system state

Question 36

A preferred mechansim to establish agreement for the creation of products and services to be traded between two or more organizations is (choose 1):

A) Agreement processes
B) Supplier processes
C) Acquirer processes
D) systems engineering

Answer 36

D) systems engineering

Question 37

A primary goal of the systems engineer is:

A) Reducing risk associated with new systems or modifications to complex systems.
B) Promoting the profession of system engineering.
C) Modeling systems of interest.
D) Performing trade studies.

Answer 37

a. Reducing risk associated with new systems or modifications to complex systems.