• 50 questions

Management Information Systems DSST Practice Test

Unofficial practice on the nine areas of the DSST Management Information Systems outline, from hardware to project management.

A smartwatch and a fitness monitor belong to which class of computing device?

Pick an answer, then press Check answer. Then you see Correct or Not quite, with the reason. Keys: A to D pick, Enter checks.

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Exam mode: 50 questions, 60 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with Prometric. Bank checked October 12, 2026.

Next step Weak on hardware? DSST Computing and IT practiceCLEP Information Systems practice test

All 50 questions

Computer hardware 5

  • A smartwatch and a fitness monitor belong to which class of computing device? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 13, Wearable. DSST outline area I (10%), e. Classification
  • Inside a CPU, which part carries out arithmetic and logic operations? Wikipedia, "Central processing unit". DSST outline area I (10%), c. System components
  • On a motherboard, what does the term bus refer to? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 2, Motherboard. DSST outline area I (10%), b. Terminology
  • Which machine, announced on a magazine cover in 1975, is counted as the first microcomputer and set off the personal computer revolution? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 1, The PC Revolution. DSST outline area I (10%), a. History and trends
  • Which pair are both output devices? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 2, Hardware. DSST outline area I (10%), d. Hardware devices
Show all 50 questions (45 more)

Computer software 5

  • Anti-malware programs and tools that remove unneeded files are examples of which kind of software? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 3, Utility Software and Programming Software. DSST outline area II (10%), d. Types of software
  • Assembly language belongs to which generation of programming languages? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 10, Generations of Programming Languages. DSST outline area II (10%), b. Programming and coding
  • Software is broadly divided into which two categories? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 3, Types of Software. DSST outline area II (10%), d. Types of software
  • When you install a commercial software package, what have you actually been given? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 3, Software Creation. DSST outline area II (10%), c. Terminology
  • Which operating system ran the IBM PC and its compatibles in the PC era of the mid-1980s? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 1, The Role of Information Systems. DSST outline area II (10%), a. History of computer software

Telecommunications and networks 5

  • How does a hardware firewall protect a network? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 6, Firewalls. DSST outline area III (10%), d. Information systems security
  • In the star topology typical of a modern local area network, what does each device connect to? Wikipedia, "Local area network". DSST outline area III (10%), e. Topology and protocols
  • What does a network switch do? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 5, Networking and Communication. DSST outline area III (10%), a. Terminology
  • Which of these is one of the three standard service models of cloud computing? Wikipedia, "Cloud computing". DSST outline area III (10%), c. Components of telecommunications and networks
  • Why did businesses turn to client-server computing in the mid-1980s? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 1, Client-Server. DSST outline area III (10%), b. Strategic importance to the enterprise

Business information systems 5

  • A parts maker sells its components online to a car manufacturer. Which kind of e-commerce is this? Wikipedia, "E-commerce". DSST outline area IV (10%), a. Electronic commerce
  • A system pulls data from a database and compiles regular reports that help managers make routine decisions. Which type is it? Saylor Academy open textbook Exploring Business, section 15.3 Types of Information Systems. DSST outline area IV (10%), b. Types/Categories of information systems
  • What sets a decision support system apart from a management information system? Saylor Academy open textbook Exploring Business, section 15.3 Types of Information Systems. DSST outline area IV (10%), b. Types/Categories of information systems
  • Which system gives senior managers strategic information tailored to their needs? Saylor Academy open textbook Exploring Business, section 15.3 Types of Information Systems. DSST outline area IV (10%), b. Types/Categories of information systems
  • Which type of information system records and processes an organization's daily activities, such as sales and payroll? Saylor Academy open textbook Exploring Business, section 15.3 Types of Information Systems. DSST outline area IV (10%), b. Types/Categories of information systems

Systems analysis and design 5

  • A retailer puts its new system into one store first, fixes what goes wrong, and only then rolls it out to the others. Which implementation method is this? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 10, Implementation Methodologies. DSST outline area V (10%), c. Systems development life cycle (SDLC)
  • An analyst scopes a system by deciding which entities are inside it and which are outside. What is the analyst defining? Wikipedia, "System". DSST outline area V (10%), a. Characteristics of a system
  • In the study of information systems, what is a process? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 1, Process. DSST outline area V (10%), a. Characteristics of a system
  • What happens in the maintenance phase of the SDLC? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 10, Systems Development Life Cycle. DSST outline area V (10%), c. Systems development life cycle (SDLC)
  • Why is the SDLC sometimes called the waterfall methodology? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 10, Systems Development Life Cycle. DSST outline area V (10%), c. Systems development life cycle (SDLC)

Managing data resources 6

  • A field must hold only one of two possible values, such as yes or no. Which data type fits it? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 4, Data Types. DSST outline area VI (12%), a. Data models
  • In an entity-relationship model, a customer's name and phone number are examples of what? Wikipedia, "Entity-relationship model". DSST outline area VI (12%), a. Data models
  • In the SQL query SELECT City FROM Customers WHERE State = 'Ohio'; which clause limits the rows returned? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 4, Structured Query Language. DSST outline area VI (12%), c. Data query and update
  • The Orders table holds a CustomerID field that points to a row of the Customers table. What is that field called in Orders? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 4, Designing a Database. DSST outline area VI (12%), b. Database management systems
  • What does an entity-relationship model describe? Wikipedia, "Entity-relationship model". DSST outline area VI (12%), a. Data models
  • What need gave rise to NoSQL databases? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 4, Other Types of Databases. DSST outline area VI (12%), b. Database management systems

Business decision making 7

  • A data warehouse uses non-operational data. What does that mean? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 4, Data Warehouse. DSST outline area VII (14%), b. Data warehousing
  • A veteran salesperson has a feel for when a customer is ready to buy but cannot easily put it into words. What kind of knowledge is this? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 4, Knowledge Management. DSST outline area VII (14%), a. Knowledge management
  • Daily sales figures are totaled by month and given context. In the hierarchy of data, information, knowledge and wisdom, what have the raw data become? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 4, Data, Information, and Knowledge. DSST outline area VII (14%), a. Knowledge management
  • Data in a warehouse is time-variant: each load receives a time stamp. What does this allow? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 4, Data Warehouse. DSST outline area VII (14%), b. Data warehousing
  • In the bottom-up approach to building a data warehouse, what is a data mart? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 4, Data Warehouse. DSST outline area VII (14%), b. Data warehousing
  • What is the purpose of data visualization? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 4, Data Visualization. DSST outline area VII (14%), c. Data mining
  • Which activities make up knowledge management? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 4, Knowledge Management. DSST outline area VII (14%), a. Knowledge management

Project management 5

  • By the quality triangle, how many of the three factors time, cost and quality can a development project address at once? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 10, The Quality Triangle. DSST outline area VIII (10%), c. Terminology
  • In Scrum, what is a Sprint? The Scrum Guide (2020), "The Sprint". DSST outline area VIII (10%), a. Approaches
  • What do the signers of the Agile Manifesto say about plans? Manifesto for Agile Software Development. DSST outline area VIII (10%), a. Approaches
  • What does a work breakdown structure contain? Saylor Academy open textbook Project Management from Simple to Complex, section 8.2 Elements of Time Management. DSST outline area VIII (10%), c. Terminology
  • What is a project's critical path? Saylor Academy open textbook Project Management from Simple to Complex, section 8.3 Critical Path and Float. DSST outline area VIII (10%), b. Tools

MIS and the enterprise 7

  • According to Michael Porter, what are the two primary ways of obtaining a competitive advantage? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 7, Competitive Advantage. DSST outline area IX (14%), c. Importance of MIS
  • In the model of how new technology spreads through a population, which group adopts first? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 9, Information-Systems Users. DSST outline area IX (14%), b. MIS role in the enterprise
  • What does an acceptable use policy do? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 12, Acceptable Use Policies. DSST outline area IX (14%), d. MIS Issues
  • Which level most needs information to plan, set objectives and make major strategic decisions? Saylor Academy open textbook Exploring Business, section 15.1 Data versus Information. DSST outline area IX (14%), a. MIS hierarchy (levels and functions)
  • Which managers most need information that helps them supervise employees and oversee daily operations? Saylor Academy open textbook Exploring Business, section 15.1 Data versus Information. DSST outline area IX (14%), a. MIS hierarchy (levels and functions)
  • Which of these is a primary activity in Porter's value chain? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 7, The Value Chain. DSST outline area IX (14%), c. Importance of MIS
  • Which United States law of 1996 treats health care records as a separate category of personally identifiable information? Bourgeois, Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019), chapter 12, Privacy. DSST outline area IX (14%), d. MIS Issues

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the exam content outline in the DSST fact sheet for Management Information Systems (Prometric, Rev 6/2024, https://getcollegecredit.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Management-Information-Systems-Fact-Sheet-1.pdf, read 2026-10-12): Computer Hardware 10%, Computer Software 10%, Telecommunications and Networks 10%, Business Information Systems 10%, Systems Analysis and Design 10%, Managing Data Resources 12%, Business Decision Making 14%, Project Management 10%, MIS and the Enterprise 14%. This bank holds 50: 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 5 and 7. Every fact was read on 2026-10-12 on the public page named under its question: the open textbook Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) by David Bourgeois, the Saylor Academy open textbooks Exploring Business and Project Management from Simple to Complex, the Scrum Guide, the Agile Manifesto and Wikipedia. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

This Management Information Systems DSST practice test has 50 questions of our own in the nine areas of the fact sheet. It is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Prometric, which owns the DSST exams.

Read the full guide

What the exam covers

The fact sheet (Rev 6/2024) gives nine areas. Business decision making and MIS and the enterprise are 14% each, managing data resources is 12%, and hardware, software, telecommunications and networks, business information systems, systems analysis and design, and project management are 10% each. The bank holds 7, 7, 6 and six fives.

Project management has its own area

The 2024 outline names Waterfall, Agile, Kanban and Scrum, Gantt and PERT charts, the critical path, Six Sigma and the work breakdown structure.

  • Sort the systems by who uses them: transaction processing for daily operations, management information for routine reports, decision support for nonroutine decisions.
  • Data warehousing sits under business decision making in this outline, beside knowledge management and data mining.

Questions and answers

How many questions are on the DSST Management Information Systems exam?

The fact sheet says 100 questions to be answered in 2 hours. Exam mode here keeps that pace: 50 questions in 60 minutes.

Is there a DSST Management Information Systems study guide?

Prometric's fact sheet is free: the outline, its percentages and four reference textbooks. Most questions on this page were checked in open textbooks you can read at no cost; each answer names its page.

What score do you need to pass the DSST Management Information Systems exam?

The fact sheet gives no pass mark in percent. It prints the American Council on Education's recommendation: 3 semester hours of lower-level baccalaureate credit at a minimum score of 400. Each college sets its own credit policy.

Are these the real exam's questions?

No. All 50 were written for this page from the outline's lines and public textbooks. Nothing is taken or reworded from the exam or the fact sheet's sample questions, so treat a score here as practice only.

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