When a business analyst performs requirements tracing, he may need to trace the requirements backward through their lineage and may need to trace the…

Derivation is the backwards tracing activity in requirements traceability. It involves identifying the

source or origin of a requirement, such as a business need, a stakeholder request, a regulation, or

another requirement. Derivation helps to ensure that the requirements are aligned with the business

objectives, to validate the rationale and assumptions behind the requirements, and to assess the

impact of changes or issues on the requirements12.

The other options are not correct because:

Option A is incorrect. Allocation is a forward tracing activity in requirements traceability. It involves

assigning or distributing a requirement to one or more components of a solution, such as a system, a

module, a function, or a process. Allocation helps to ensure that the requirements are covered by the

solution, to verify the feasibility and consistency of the requirements, and to measure the progress

and performance of the solution34.

Option B is incorrect. Lineage tracking is not a specific term used in requirements traceability. It may

refer to the general process of tracing the history and evolution of a requirement from its origin to its

current state, or vice versa. However, it is not a standard or widely accepted term in the business

analysis domain5.

Option D is incorrect. Backwards pass is a term used in project management, not in requirements

traceability. It is a technique for calculating the late start and late finish dates of the project activities

by working backwards from the project end date. It is part of the critical path method for scheduling

the project activities6.

Reference:

Requirements Traceability, section “Description of Change”

What is Traceability? - Jama Software, section “Backward to Requirements”

Allocation, section “Description of Change”

Requirements Allocation, section “What is Requirements Allocation?”

Forward and backward traceability: Requirements and challenges (Keynote), section “Abstract”

Backward Pass, section “Description of Change”