Conduct preliminary analysis

The techniques used in fact-finding

1

Interviews

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Documentation review

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Observation

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Questionnaires

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Sampling

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Research

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Interviews

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Documentation review

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Observation

• The most commonly used requirements elicitation technique.
• Conducted one on one (one interviewer and one interviewee)

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Interviews

• 5 Basic Step:
• Selecting Interviewees
• Designing interview questions
• Preparing the interview
• Conducting Interview
• Postinterview follow-up

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1

Interviews

• An interview schedule should be created, listing who will be interviewed, the purpose of the interview, and where and when it will take place.
• The schedule can be an informal list that is used to help set up meeting times or a formal list that is incorporated into the work plan.
• The people who appear on the interview schedule are selected on the basis of the analyst’s information needs.

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1

Interviews

Step 1: Selecting Interviewees

• The project sponsor, key business users, and other members of the project team can help the analyst determine who in the organization can best provide important information about requirements.
• These people are listed on the interview schedule in the order in which they should be interviewed.

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Interviews

Step 1: Selecting Interviewees

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1

Interviews

Step 1: Selecting Interviewees

• People at different levels of the organization will have different viewpoints on the system, so it is important to include both managers who manage the processes and staff who actually perform the processes to gain both high-level and low-level perspectives on an issue.
• Also, the kinds of interview subjects that you need may change over time.
• For example, at the start of the project the analyst has a limited understanding of the as-is business process.

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1

Interviews

Step 1: Selecting Interviewees

• It is common to begin by interviewing one or two senior managers to get a strategic view and then move to mid-level managers who can provide broad, overarching information about the business process and the expected role of the system being developed.
• Once the analyst has a good understanding of the big picture, lower-level managers and staff members can fill in the exact details of how the process works.
• Like most other things about systems analysis, this is an iterative process—starting with senior managers, moving to midlevel managers, then staff members, back to mid-level managers, and so on, depending upon what information is needed along the way.

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1

Interviews

Step 1: Selecting Interviewees

• There are three types of interview questions:
• Closed-ended questions
• Open-ended questions
• Probing questions.

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1

Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

• There are three types of interview questions:
• Closed-ended questions
• Open-ended questions
• Probing questions.

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1

Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

• Closed-ended questions
• Used when the analyst is looking for specific, precise information(e.g., how many credit card requests are received per day).
• In general, precise questions are best. For example, rather than asking “Do you handle a lot of requests?” it is better to ask “How many requests do you process per day?”

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1

Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

• Closed-ended questions
• Closed-ended questions enable analysts to control the interview and obtain the information they need.
• However, these types of questions don’t uncover why the answer is the way it is, nor do they uncover information that the interviewer does not think to ask ahead of time.

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1

Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

• Closed-ended questions

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1

Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

• Open-ended questions
• Open-ended questions are designed to gather rich information and give the interviewee more control over the information that is revealed during the interview.
• Sometimes the subjects the interviewee chooses to discuss uncover information that is just as important as the answer (e.g., if the interviewee talks only about other departments when asked for problems, it may suggest that he or she is reluctant to admit his or her own department’s problems).

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1

Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

• Open-ended questions
• Open-ended questions are designed to gather rich information and give the interviewee more control over the information that is revealed during the interview.
• Sometimes the subjects the interviewee chooses to discuss uncover information that is just as important as the answer (e.g., if the interviewee talks only about other departments when asked for problems, it may suggest that he or she is reluctant to admit his or her own department’s problems).

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1

Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

• Probing questions
• Probing questions follow up on what has just been discussed in order for the interviewer to learn more, and they often are used when the interviewer is unclear about an interviewee’s answer.
• They encourage the interviewee to expand on or to confirm information from a previous response, and they are a signal that the interviewer is listening and interested in the topic under discussion.

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Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

• Probing questions
• Many beginning analysts are reluctant to use probing questions because they are afraid that the interviewee might be offended at being challenged or because they believe it shows that they didn’t understand what the interviewee said.
• When done politely, probing questions can be a powerful tool in requirements discovery.

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1

Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

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1

Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

• Questioning Strategies

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1

Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

• Top-down interview
• The interviewer starts with broad, general issues and gradually works towards more specific ones
• It is certainly the most common approach.
• It enables the interviewee to become accustomed to the topic before he or she needs to provide specifics.
• It also enables the interviewer to understand the issues before moving to the details, because the interviewer may not have sufficient information at the start of the interview to ask very specific questions.
• Perhaps most importantly, the topdown approach enables the interviewee to raise a set of big-picture issues before becoming enmeshed in details, so the interviewer is less likely to miss important issues.

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1

Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

• Bottom-up strategy interview
• May be preferred is when the analyst already has gathered a lot of information about issues and just needs to fill in some holes with details.
• Or, bottom-up may be appropriate if lower-level staff members feel threatened or are unable to answer high-level questions.
• For example, “How can we improve customer service?” may be too broad a question for a customer service clerk, whereas a specific question is readily answerable (e.g., “How can we speed up customer returns?”).
• In any event, all interviews should begin with noncontroversial questions first and then gradually move into more contentious issues after the interviewer has developed some rapport with the interviewee.

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1

Interviews

Step 2: Designing interview questions

• It is important to prepare for the interview in the same way that you would prepare to give a presentation.
• You should have a general interview plan which lists the questions that you will ask in the appropriate order; anticipates possible answers and provides how you will follow up with them; and identifies segues between related topics.
• Confirm the areas in which the interviewee has knowledge so You do not ask questions that he or she cannot answer.
• Review the topic areas, the questions, and the interview plan, and clearly decide which ones have the greatest priority in case you run out of time.

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1

Interviews

Step 3: Preparing for the Interview

• In general, structured interviews with closed-ended questions take more time to prepare than unstructured interviews.
• So, some beginning analysts prefer unstructured interviews, thinking that they can “wing it.”
• This is very dangerous and often counterproductive, because any information not gathered in the first interview would have to be obtained by follow-up efforts, and most people do not like to be interviewed repeatedly about the same issues.

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1

Interviews

Step 3: Preparing for the Interview

• Be sure to prepare the interviewee as well.
• When you schedule the interview, inform the interviewee of the reason for the interview and the areas you will be discussing far enough in advance so that he or she has time to think about the issues and organize his or her thoughts.
• This is particularly important when you are an outsider to the organization and for interviewing lower-level employees who often are not asked for their opinions and who may be uncertain about why you are interviewing them.

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1

Interviews

Step 3: Preparing for the Interview

• When you start the interview, the first goal is to build rapport with the interviewee so that he or she trusts you and is willing to tell you the whole truth, not just give the answers that he or she thinks you want.
• You should appear to be professional and an unbiased, independent seeker of information.
• The interview should start with an explanation of why you are there and why you have chosen to interview the person, and then move into your planned interview questions

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1

Interviews

Step 4: Conducting the Interview

• Carefully record all the information that the interviewee provides.
• The best approach is to take careful notes—write down everything the interviewee says, even if it does not appear immediately relevant.
• Don’t be afraid to ask the person to slow down or to pause while you write, because this is a clear indication that the interviewee’s information is important to you.
• One potentially controversial issue is whether or not to tape-record the interview.

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1

Interviews

Step 4: Conducting the Interview

• Recording ensures that you do not miss important points, but it can be intimidating for the interviewee.
• Most organizations have policies or generally accepted practices about the recording of interviews, so find out what they are before you start an interview.
• If you are worried about missing information and cannot tape the interview, then bring along a second person to take detailed notes

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1

Interviews

Step 4: Conducting the Interview

• It is important that you understand the issues that are discussed.
• If you do not understand something, be sure to ask. Don’t be afraid to ask “dumb questions,” because the only thing worse than appearing “dumb” is to be “dumb” by not understanding something that you could have cleared up by questioning.
• If you don’t understand something during the interview, you certainly won’t understand it afterward.

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1

Interviews

Step 4: Conducting the Interview

• Be sure to separate facts from opinion. The interviewee may say, for example, “We process too many credit card requests.”
• This is an opinion, and it is useful to follow this up with a probing question requesting support for the statement (e.g., “Oh, how many do you process in a day?”).
• It is helpful to check the facts because any differences between the facts and the interviewee’s opinions can point out key areas for improvement.

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1

Interviews

Step 4: Conducting the Interview

• After the interview is over, the analyst needs to prepare an interview report that describes the information from the interview.
• The report contains interview notes, information that was collected over the course of the interview and is summarized in a useful format.
• In general, the interview report should be written within 48 hours of the interview, because the longer you wait, the more likely you are to forget information.

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1

Interviews

Step 5: Post-interview Follow-up

• Often, the interview report is sent to the interviewee with a request to read it and inform the analyst of clarifications or updates.
• Make sure the interviewee is convinced that you genuinely want his or her corrections to the report.
• Usually, there are few changes, but the need for any significant changes suggests that a second interview will be required.
• Never distribute someone’s information without prior approval.

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1

Interviews

Step 5: Post-interview Follow-up

• Document review can help you understand how the current system is supposed to work.
• Remember that system documentation sometimes is out of date.
• Forms can change or be discontinued, and documented procedures often are modified or eliminated.
• You should obtain copies of actual forms and operating documents currently in use.

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2

Documentation review

• You also should review blank copies of forms, as well as samples of actual completed forms.
• You usually can obtain document samples during interviews with the people who perform that procedure.
• If the system uses a software package, you should review the documentation for that software.

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2

Documentation review

• Project teams often use document analysis to understand the as-is system.
• Under ideal circumstances, the project team that developed the existing system will have produced documentation, which was then updated by all subsequent projects.
• In this case, the project team can start by reviewing the documentation and examining the system itself.

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2

Documentation review

• Unfortunately, most systems are not well documented, because project teams fail to document their projects along the way, and when the projects are over, there is no time to go back and document.
• Therefore, there may not be much technical documentation about the current system available, or it may not contain updated information about recent system changes.
• However, there are many helpful documents that do exist in the rganization: paper reports, memorandums, policy manuals, user training manuals, organization charts, and forms.
• Problem reports filed by the system users can be another rich source of information about issues with the existing system.

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2

Documentation review

• For example, forms or reports that are never used likely should be eliminated.
• Likewise, boxes or questions on forms that are never filled in (or are used for other purposes) should be rethought.
• See Figure for an example of how a document can be interpreted.

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2

Documentation review

• The observation of current operating procedures is another fact-finding technique.
• Seeing the system in action gives you additional perspective and a better understanding of system procedures.
• Personal observation also allows you to verify statements made in interviews and determine whether procedures really operate as they are described.

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3

Observation

• Observation, the act of watching processes being performed, is a powerful tool to gain insight into the as-is system.
• Observation enables the analyst to see the reality of a situation, rather than listening to others describe it in interviews

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3

Observation

• Plan your observations in advance by preparing a checklist of specific tasks you want to observe and questions you want to ask.
• Consider the following issues when you prepare your list

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3

Observation

• Ask sufficient questions to ensure that you have a complete understanding of the present system operation.
• A primary goal is to identify the methods of handling situations that are not covered by standard operating procedures.
• For example, what happens in a payroll system if an employee loses a time card?
• What is the procedure if an employee starts a shift 10 minutes late but then works 20 minutes overtime?
• Often, the rules for exceptions such as these are not written or formalized; therefore, you must try to document any procedures for handling exceptions.

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3

Observation

1

• Observe all the steps in a transaction and note the documents, inputs, outputs, and processes involved.

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3

Observation

2

• Examine each form, record, and report.
• Determine the purpose each item of information serves.

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3

Observation

3

• Consider each user who works with the system and the following questions: What information does that person receive from other people?
• What information does this person generate?
• How is the information communicated?
• How often do interruptions occur?
• How much downtime occurs? How much support does the user require, and who provides it?

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3

Observation

4

• Talk to the people who receive current reports to see whether the reports are complete, timely, accurate, and in a useful form.
• Ask whether information can be eliminated or improved and whether people would like to receive additional information.

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3

Observation

5

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Questionnaires

5

Sampling

6

Research

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents.

Sir Francis Galton.

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• From (David P. Tegarden et al, 2012), Questionnaire is a set of written questions for obtaining information from individuals.

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4

Questionnaires

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• Used when there is a large number of people from whom information and opinions are needed.
• Questionnaire is commonly used for system intended for use outside of the organization or for system with business users spread across many geographic location.

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4

Questionnaires

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4

Questionnaires

• You can administer questionnaires by
• Mail
• Telephone
• using face-to-face interviews
• distributing paper
• or electronically (i.e., by email or through Web-based questionnaires).

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4

Questionnaires

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Step for Conducting Questionnaire

• The standard approach is to select a sample, or subset, of people who are representative of the entire group.

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• Sampling guidelines are discussed in Sampling method.

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• The important point in selecting a sample, however, is to realize that not everyone who receives a questionnaire will actually complete it.

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• On average, only 30%–50% of paper and e-mail questionnaires are returned.

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• Response rates for Web-based questionnaires tend to be significantly lower (often, only 5%–30%).

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• Developing good questions is critical for questionnaires because the information on a questionnaire cannot be immediately clarified for a confused respondent.
• Questions on questionnaires:
• must be very clearly written
• must leave little room for misunderstanding (closed-ended questions)
• must enable the analyst to clearly separate facts from opinions.

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• Good Questionnaire Design
• Begin with nonthreatening and interesting questions.
• Group items into logically coherent sections.
• Do not put important items at the very end of the questionnaire.
• Do not crowd a page with too many items.

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• Good Questionnaire Design
• Avoid abbreviations.
• Avoid biased or suggestive items or terms.
• Number questions to avoid confusion.
• Pretest the questionnaire to identify confusing questions.
• Provide anonymity to respondents.

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• The key issue in administering the questionnaire is getting participants to complete the questionnaire and send it back.
• Commonly used techniques include clearly explaining why the questionnaire is being conducted and why the respondent has been selected;

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• stating a date by which the questionnaire is to be returned;
• offering an inducement to complete the questionnaire (e.g., a free pen);
• and offering to supply a summary of the questionnaire responses.

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• The key issue in administering the questionnaire is getting participants to complete the questionnaire and send it back.
• Commonly used techniques include clearly explaining why the questionnaire is being conducted and why the respondent has been selected;
• stating a date by which the questionnaire is to be returned;
• offering an inducement to complete the questionnaire (e.g., a free pen);
• and offering to supply a summary of the questionnaire responses.

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Designing the Questionnaire

• Systems analysts have additional techniques to improve responses rates inside the organization,
• such as personally handing out the questionnaire and personally contacting those who have not returned them after a week or two,
• as well as requesting the respondents’ supervisors to administer the questionnaires in a group meeting.

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Designing the Questionnaire

• It is helpful to process the returned questionnaires and develop a questionnaire report soon after the questionnaire deadline.
• This ensures that the analysis process proceeds in a timely fashion and that respondents who requested copies of the results receive them promptly.

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Designing the Questionnaire

Constructing a questionnaire

• Wording the questionnaire
• Consider three things:
• a

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• A

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• a

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Constructing a questionnaire

• Suggestions:
• Use simple Wording
• Avoid the use of abbreviations or foreign phrases.
• Be specific

Example : how many time you meet last year?

Specific : Last year? Refer to ? Example

2012 to 2014

• Use clear wording

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Constructing a questionnaire

• Suggestions:
• Use clear wording
• Word such “regularly” and “accasionally”
• Vague term : Majority; often; older people
• Include all necessary information
• Example : Do you agree or disagree with the proposed plan to expand in our community?

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Constructing a questionnaire

• Suggestions:
• Avoid question that may be too precise
• Provide range to select from
• Example :- 0-5; 6-10; 11-15 etc.
• Avoid questions that are too demanding and time consuming
• Example : Please rank the following 15 item.

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Constructing a questionnaire

• Suggestions:
• Use mutually exclusive categories
• Make sure one answer Is possible
• Example : How did you hear about the seminar

“frinds”; “relative”; “newspaper”

• Avoid making assumtions
• Example : How many children do you have?
• A better question :
• Do you have children?
• How many children do you have?

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Constructing a questionnaire

• Suggestions:
• Avoid bias questions
• When it implies that the respondent should be engaged in a particular behavior
• When the respondent categories are unequal or loaded in one direction
• When the word with strong positive or negative emotional appeal are use such as “freedom”; “equality”; “boss” ; etc.

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Constructing a questionnaire

• Suggestions:
• Example: More farmers are using superb than any other variety of alfalfa. Do you use superb?
1. Yes 2. No
• This questions implies the respondent should be using superb

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Constructing a questionnaire

• Suggestions:
• Make the response categories clear and logical
• Example: Poor spacing

1. 0 acres 2. 1 -9 acres 3. 10-99 acres

• Use complete sentences

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Type of Questions

• Open-ended Questions allow the respondent to provide their own answers.
• Close-ended Questions list answers and respondent select either one or multiple responses.

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Type of Questions

• Open-ended Questions

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Type of Questions

• Close-ended Questions

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Type of Questions

• Close-ended Questions

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Type of Questions

• Close-ended Questions

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Likert Scale

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Various Likert Scale

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Likert Scale

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Designing the Questionnaire

Organize yourselves into small groups. Develop a short questionnaire (At least 5 Question) to collect information about your project.

Time : 15 minutes.

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A sample is a finite part of a statistical population whose properties are studied to gain information about the whole(Webster, 1985).

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• When dealing with people, it can be defined as a set of respondents(people) selected from a larger population for the purpose of a survey

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Sampling

• Population
• A group of individuals persons, objects, or items from which samples are taken for measurement.
• What is sampling?
• Sampling is the act, process, or technique of selecting a suitable sample, or a representative part of a population for the purpose of determining parameters or characteristics of the whole population.

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5

Sampling

Techniques

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Sampling

• We will always make probability sampling, because in case we choose the appropriate technique, it assures us that the sample is representative and we can estimate the errors for the sampling.
• A probability sample is one in which each element of the population has a known non-zero probability of selection

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5

Sampling

• There are different types of probability sampling:
• Random sampling with and without replacement.
• Stratified sampling.
• Systematic sampling.
• Cluster sampling.
• Other types of sampling techniques.

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5

Sampling

• A sample of size n from a population of size N is obtained through simple random sampling if every possible sample of size n has an equally likely chance of occurring.
• Each element in the population has an equal probability of selection AND each combination of elements has an equal probability of selection.

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5

Sampling

• Names drawn out of a hat.
• Random numbers to select elements from an ordered list.

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5

Sampling

• A stratified sample is obtained by separating the population into non-overlapping groups called strata and then obtaining a proportional simple random sample from each group.
• The individuals within each group should be similar in some way.

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5

Sampling

• Decide how many individuals to select from each stratum.
• The key here is that the number selected should be proportional.
• In our case, 1/4 of the individuals in the population are blue, so 1/4 of the sample should be blue as well.
• Working things out, we can see that a stratified (by color) random sample of 4 should have 1 blue, 1 green, and 2 reds

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5

Sampling

• A systematic sample is obtained by

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Sampling

selecting every kth individual from the population.

• The first individual selected corresponds to a random number between 1 and k.

• In our example, we want to use 3 for k? Can you see why? Think what would happen if we used 2 or 4.

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Sampling

• For our starting point, we pick a random number between 1 and k.
• For our visual, let's suppose that we pick 2. The individuals sampled would then be 2, 5, 8, and 11.

• A cluster sample is obtained by selecting all individuals within a randomly selected collection or group of individuals.
• We use cluster sampling when our population is already broken up into groups (clusters), and each cluster represents the population. That way, we just select a certain number of clusters

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Sampling

• Let's suppose the 12 individuals are paired up just as they were sitting in the original population.
• Since we want a random sample of size four, we just select two of the clusters.
• We would number the clusters 1-6 and use technology to randomly select two random numbers.

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Sampling

a. the systematic investigation into and study of materials, sources, etc, in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. b. an endeavour to discover new or collate old facts etc by the scientific study of a subject or by a course of critical investigation.

[Oxford Concise Dictionary]

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6

Research

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Research

• Research is what we do when we have a question or a problem we want to resolve
• We may already think we know the answer to our question already
• We may think the answer is obvious, common sense even
• But until we have subjected our problem to rigorous scientific scrutiny, our 'knowledge' remains little more than guesswork or at best, intuition.

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Research

• First priority is to formulate your question
• Then figure out how you are going to answer it
• How have others answered it?
• How does your proposal fit in with what others have done?
• How will you know when you have answered it?
• Then you can present your answer

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6

Research

• Planning
• Statement of the problem
• Literature review
• Choice of research method
• Design of study
• Data collection
• Analysis of data
• Write-up

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