Five W's and How

Five W's and How

The  Five Ws, Five Ws and one H, or the  Six Ws  are questions whose answers are considered basic in information-gathering. They include Who, What, When Where, and Why. The 5 Ws are often mentioned in journalism, research, and police investigations. They constitute a formula for getting the complete story on a subject.

According to the principle of the Five Ws, a report can only be considered complete if it answers these questions starting with an interrogative word:

• Who  is it about?

• What  happened?

• When  did it take place?

• Where  did it take place?

• Why  did it happen?

Some authors add a sixth question, "how", to the list, though "how" can also be covered by "what", "where", or "when":

• How  did it happen?