The Scrum Master is attending a meeting in which the Scrum Team is estimating the effort required to develop the functionality described in each User…

Affinity Estimation is a technique specifically designed to quickly estimate a large number of User Stories. The team places stories on a scale (e.g., using T-shirt sizes like XS, S, M, L, XL) relative to each other. This process is often done silently at first to avoid lengthy discussions, allowing the team to rapidly sort a large backlog into groups of similar-sized items. This method directly addresses the team's requirement for a fast estimation process for a high volume of stories, making it the most suitable choice among the options.

A. Planning Poker is a consensus-based technique that involves detailed discussion for each story, making it thorough but significantly slower and less suitable for estimating a large number of items at once.

B. Wideband Delphi is a formal, multi-round estimation technique that aims for high accuracy through anonymous estimates and group discussion. It is generally more time-consuming than Planning Poker and not designed for speed.

D. Relative Sizing is a fundamental concept or principle used in many agile estimation techniques, including Planning Poker and Affinity Estimation. It is not a specific technique itself, making 'Affinity Estimation' a more precise answer.

1. SCRUMstudy. (2017). A Guide to the Scrum Body of Knowledge (SBOK® Guide) (3rd ed.). Section 8.3.4

Affinity Estimation

p. 163. The guide states

"Affinity Estimation is a technique used to quickly estimate a large number of User Stories."

2. SCRUMstudy. (2017). A Guide to the Scrum Body of Knowledge (SBOK® Guide) (3rd ed.). Section 8.3.2

Planning Poker

p. 162. The description of Planning Poker emphasizes discussion and reaching a consensus for each story

which contrasts with the speed-focused approach of Affinity Estimation.

3. Stellman

A.

& Greene

J. (2014). Learning Agile: Understanding Scrum

XP

Lean

and Kanban. O'Reilly Media. (Note: While a commercial book

its principles are widely taught in university-level software engineering courses and align with SBOK® concepts). Chapter 12 discusses estimation techniques

highlighting that affinity estimation is used "when the team needs to estimate a lot of items at once." This aligns with the academic understanding of the technique's primary use case.