What is the difference between Quality Assurance and Quality Control?

What is the difference between Quality Assurance and Quality Control?

• A. QA focuses on preventing defects, while QC involves identifying defects in products.
• B. QA detects defects after production.
• C. QC prevents defects by improving processes.
• D. QA and QC are the same.

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that Quality Assurance is about preventing defects by focusing on the process and how work is done, while Quality Control is about detecting defects in the output—inspecting and testing the product to identify nonconforming items. So the best description states that QA aims to prevent defects through good processes, standards, training, and audits, and QC centers on identifying defects in products through inspection and testing. The other ideas mix up those roles: QA_detecting defects after production would make QA reactive, which isn’t its purpose; QC preventing defects by improving processes describes QC as preventive, which is really QA’s job; and saying QA and QC are the same ignores their distinct focuses on process versus product.

The key idea is that Quality Assurance is about preventing defects by focusing on the process and how work is done, while Quality Control is about detecting defects in the output—inspecting and testing the product to identify nonconforming items. So the best description states that QA aims to prevent defects through good processes, standards, training, and audits, and QC centers on identifying defects in products through inspection and testing.

The other ideas mix up those roles: QA_detecting defects after production would make QA reactive, which isn’t its purpose; QC preventing defects by improving processes describes QC as preventive, which is really QA’s job; and saying QA and QC are the same ignores their distinct focuses on process versus product.