What is the relationship between the Product Backlog, the Release Backlog and the Sprint Backlog?

Question

Options

• AThe Product Backlog is a subset of the Sprint Backlog, which is a subset of the Release Backlog.
• BThe Release Backlog is a subset of the Product Backlog, which is a subset of the Sprint Backlog
• CThe Sprint Backlog is a subset of the Product Backlog, which is a subset of the Release Backlog.

• A
  10% (4)
• B
  15% (6)
• C
  75% (30)

Explanation

Option C correctly captures the nesting hierarchy in Scrum: the Sprint Backlog draws from a Release Backlog (a time-boxed slice of work planned for a specific release), which in turn is drawn from the Product Backlog (the master list of everything the product might ever need). Think of it as Russian dolls - the Product Backlog is the outermost container, the Release Backlog lives inside it, and the Sprint Backlog is the smallest, innermost selection of work for a single sprint.

Option A is wrong because it inverts the relationship entirely, placing the Product Backlog (the largest artifact) inside the Sprint Backlog (the smallest), which contradicts how work is broken down incrementally. Option B incorrectly makes the Sprint Backlog the largest container, implying that release and product planning somehow fit within a single sprint's scope - the opposite of how scope grows with time horizon.

Memory tip: Think of the acronym P-R-S (Product → Release → Sprint) in decreasing scope: you plan the whole Product, scope a Release, then commit to a Sprint. Each level zooms in further, so the subset relationship always flows inward from Product down to Sprint.

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