CIA-2 - Information Gathering, Analysis, and Evaluation - Section B.1

Identify sources of information to support engagement objectives and procedures, including interviews, observations, walk-throughs, data analyses, and documentary sources.

Determine suitable methods for obtaining engagement information, including interviews, direct observation, walk-throughs, and data analyses, choosing the method that best fits the information sought. Identify suitable documentary sources such as policies, checklists, risk and control questionnaires, and self-assessment surveys to corroborate or supplement what is learned through fieldwork.

Information gathering methodsWalk-throughSelf-assessment survey

Practice question for this objective

Free sampleInformation Gathering, Analysis, and Evaluationeasy

An internal auditor wants staff in a business unit to evaluate how well the controls in their own area are working by completing a structured questionnaire themselves. Which information-gathering method is being described?

  • AA walk-through, in which the auditor traces one transaction through the process from start to finish.
  • BDirect observation, in which the auditor watches the control being performed in real time.
  • CA control self-assessment survey, in which staff evaluate the controls in their own area. Correct
  • DReperformance, in which the auditor independently re-executes the control to test it.
A control self-assessment survey gathers information by having staff evaluate the controls in their own area through a structured questionnaire. A control self-assessment survey collects information by having the people who perform the controls assess them via a structured questionnaire. That self-reported source is distinct from the auditor observing, tracing, or reperforming the control, which are all performed by the auditor rather than the process staff.

Why A is wrong: A walk-through has the auditor trace a transaction personally, not the staff completing a questionnaire about their own controls, so it does not fit the description.

Why B is wrong: Observation means the auditor watches the control happen; here the staff themselves report on their controls, so the method described is not observation.

Why C is correct: Correct: a control self-assessment survey gathers information by having the people who operate the controls evaluate them through a structured questionnaire.

Why D is wrong: Reperformance has the auditor re-execute the control independently; it is not staff completing a survey about their own area, so this label is wrong.

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