5W2H Analysis
Updated 2026-08-09
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
A diagnostic framework, common in quality management and journalism, that interrogates a situation through seven questions: what, why, who, when, where, how, and how much. Its core proposition is that most incomplete analyses omit a predictable dimension, so running the fixed list surfaces gaps that unstructured questioning misses. The qualifier is that the framework structures description rather than explanation: it shows which facts are absent, but the causal work of explaining why must still be done separately.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Dimension sweep: run all seven prompts against the event and mark each one answered or blank. - Gap flag: treat any unanswered dimension as a lead, not a detail, before moving to causes. - Fact first: record what is observed for each dimension before offering any interpretation.
Anchor fast decisions
Because attention naturally settles on the dimensions easiest to observe, whole categories of fact go unexamined. A fixed checklist removes the choice of what to look at, so a missing dimension becomes visible as an empty slot, and completeness of description improves before any causal claim is made.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Wsverified
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