# The 6 Question words



## Kainita (Aug 31, 2011)

Curiousity has captured me and so I made this. 

I am interested in what the different types would pick. 


Example:
Say you were a detective and you were just called to an overnight bank robbery scene. There is one witness and the other detectives were waiting on you to come before questioning him. You are only able to ask him one question, which question word would you use to ask your question? You only get one. 

Please post your type and response question.


Note: This is an example and many other situations could have been used, but I was more curious about someone who had minimal information and the question could make or break the situation.


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## Bear987 (May 13, 2012)

I went with "why". I mean, why not? Oh, and I think of myself as an INFJ.


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## L'Empereur (Jun 7, 2010)

INTJ why?


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## Hanz (May 15, 2012)

Why (INFJ)


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## Wormwood (Feb 24, 2012)

INTP, What.

If I can ask specifically what happened, I might be able to get better insights on where to look for evidence (he ran for the back door, slipped, came back, blah blah blah), but also because it's a far more useful word. _Who_ is useless when you can ask for _what _he looked like, or _what _his name was. I can't really see how _Why _could answer anything substantial; _Why _did he do it? _Why _are you still here? Idk. _When _could easily be answered by anyone else, so it'd be pointless to waste your one question on it. _Where?_ Right here, jackass. Any answer you could get out of _How_ you could also get out of _What.

What _is simply the most useful in that situation.


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## Kainita (Aug 31, 2011)

I am also curious as to what the people who chose why are thinking. I would also pick, what. 

Hmm... maybe; Why were you here? That is the only question I can get from why that would be semi-useful.


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## Penelope (Aug 6, 2012)

What? ISFJ

i went with "what" because I feel I would be able to get the most information by simply asking... "what happened?"


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## LightningHeart78 (Jun 11, 2012)

"What did you see?" and I'm INFP


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## A Little Bit of Cheeze (Apr 21, 2012)

What? INTJ. 

Just a thought, couldn't you just replace 'why' with 'what for' in most situations(if needed)? Ex- _Why did you do that?/What did you do that for? _

In the Latin languages 'why'(porque/porquoi) basically translates into, in breaking down the words, 'for what' (por-que/por-quoi)

And I also find 'why' questions in a much smaller quantity than 'what' questions.... unless my brain is working properly right now... (Sorry if this doesn't make any sense or I'm just stating the obvious-- sleep deprivation can do that to you :frustrating


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## ibage (May 5, 2012)

Why. It's an easy one. I want to know _why _things happen and not just how. You can tell me how all of life's greatest mysteries happen but I want to know why. 

That said, it's also the best word ever.


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## bella123 (Aug 12, 2012)

Being a 6, definitely why. And for the record, I've always thought I'd make an excellent detective :wink:


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## uhm.kacie (Jul 30, 2012)

INFP, Type 2, and I'd never be a detective, although I think they are some of the most dedicated workers there are. So I based mine more off of life. I'd much rather know why a person hit someone than what they looked like, or why the glass fell on the floor than when, or why life has way too many questions to be answered than how long it'll take to answer them. 
I overall just think why is a way more useful word, and a more meaningful one of sorts. I want to know why they're breaking up with me, which is something a little more prominent on the mind of a sixteen year old.  I probably ask why way more than any other.


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## Alvis Oswin (Jun 25, 2012)

Why? I understand that people should be killed in circumstances, but what are your circumstances for killing this person? Why did you kill them? (INFP)


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## gammagon (Aug 8, 2012)

INTP type 5w6. Why. "The Thinker" and "The Investigator", makes sense.


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## TheBackwardsLegsMan (Feb 19, 2012)

(INFJ) Why? The motives behind something/why an event came to pass is just infinitely more interesting to me than who did it, or even what happened. I can learn so much more about something if I know why it happened too. 

In the case of our bank robbery, however, I'd have to ask who. The goal is to find the criminal, and while knowing why this person did it would be so much more interesting than who it was, it'd be horribly irresponsible for me to pass up the opportunity to solve the case just to entertain myself. Although if you knew who it was, you could probably figure out why he did it.


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## Beat_Crusader (Jun 19, 2012)

INTP and why?


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## friendly80sfan (May 12, 2011)

ENFJ- I'd start with What.


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## Runemarks (Jul 23, 2012)

What?
INFP.


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## Rinori (Apr 8, 2012)

If i was questioning a suspect I would ask why its a great way to get an insight into the mind of the criminal and help with the judgment. If it is a witness the best thing to ask is how to determine the behavior of the criminal. INFP


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## Mammon (Jul 12, 2012)

I'm all about 'why' till the point it annoys people.

ISFJ


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## StElmosDream (May 26, 2012)

Rinori said:


> If i was questioning a suspect I would ask why its a great way to get an insight into the mind of the criminal and help with the judgment. If it is a witness the best thing to ask is how to determine the behavior of the criminal. INFP


Not much use but I thought it would be nice to add this for confusions sake :wink:: Scott Fraser: Why eyewitnesses get it wrong | Video on TED.com


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## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

ENTP - Why? 

Because I'm a curiosity/knowledge junkie. Why usually answers some of the other ones.


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## bolter1 (May 21, 2012)

Why is the only one I considered choosing. Why? With the word "Why" you can learn why thing happen the way they do, which will then give you the answers to many other questions as well.



Wormwood said:


> INTP, What.
> 
> If I can ask specifically what happened, I might be able to get better insights on where to look for evidence (he ran for the back door, slipped, came back, blah blah blah), but also because it's a far more useful word. _Who_ is useless when you can ask for _what _he looked like, or _what _his name was. I can't really see how _Why _could answer anything substantial; _Why _did he do it? _Why _are you still here? Idk. _When _could easily be answered by anyone else, so it'd be pointless to waste your one question on it. _Where?_ Right here, jackass. Any answer you could get out of _How_ you could also get out of _What.
> 
> What _is simply the most useful in that situation.


If there was a murder and the detective asked "What happened?", the only information he would get would be about what happened during the murder. That wouldn't be of much help beyond determining how the victim was murdered. If he asked "Why did he get murdered?" the detective would be finding out the murder's motivation behind the murder which could help figure out who the murderer was.


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## Wormwood (Feb 24, 2012)

-


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## bales33 (Aug 8, 2012)

My question "How did all this occur?" It seems I could figure out the rest from that question... if the guy answers truthfully and actually has more information then the average witness. My type, INTP.


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## kindaconfused (Apr 30, 2010)

DubLeWoble said:


> I'm all about 'why' till the point it annoys people.
> 
> ISFJ


why? ?


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## Reicheru (Sep 24, 2011)

i'd ask the witness to recall *what* happened, so i could carefully weigh the different aspects of this story against one another & extrapolate my own theories & inferences about why.

INFJ 5w4.


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## Philosophaser Song Boy (Jan 16, 2011)

I couldn't decide... INFP


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## Mammon (Jul 12, 2012)

kindaconfused said:


> why? ?


Curiosity, my friend. Curiosity.


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## gatsby (Sep 6, 2012)

"Why?" Because if there's only _one_ witness (assuming a person witnesses all actions that they themselves do), then we've got our man. Now all that's left is motive.

INFP that's playing with the question a bit :tongue:


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## Flatlander (Feb 25, 2012)

Okay, so disregarding the example (heh) I viewed this as a question of what insight I would most like to have into a situation. At the base of all of my questioning is 'why': I want to know the motivations and reasons behind what happens. The actual line of questioning to get there can differ.


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## Siren (Jun 25, 2011)

Who. INTJ.


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## Bazinga187 (Aug 7, 2011)

Why seems like an odd thing to ask given the situation. Isn't it obvious why the criminal was robbing a bank? And why would the witness know this person's reasons? The criminal's motives aren't relevant at this stage.

I voted how but in retrospect I'd probably ask what. If you can find out what happened, you can identify the most likely places for DNA evidence to be, then you can find out who it was and ask the how/why questions to the criminal.

I'm an INTP.


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## WOLFsanctuary (Sep 19, 2012)

WHY is the most important question.

Every 4 and 5 year old will agree with you


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## Dragearen (Feb 2, 2012)

INFP - why?


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## SophiaScorpia (Apr 15, 2012)

Why. It seemed the most apt for the situation.


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## SkyRunner (Jun 30, 2012)

I would use "why." I am INFP and a type 4w5. roud:


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## Lettusaurus (Apr 8, 2011)

ENTP - "How" because how else would you solve the mystery?


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## Kozokana (Oct 7, 2012)

I'm an INFJ 5w4. and I chose "how"

I was also considering "what" but decided that was a bit vague....we obviously know "what" happened, a guy robbed a bank...then I was going to choose "cannot decide", but went with "how" because I think it's the most apt, to actually learn how it happened.

Who doesn't make sense assuming the witness doesn't have a clue who it is, and they were probably wearing a mask anyway. Where is obvious because they are at the crime scene. Why doesn't make sense to me, it's rather obvious why someone would rob a bank, and even so, how would the witness know the robber's intentions exactly, assuming there was a "deeper meaning".

Wait maybe I'm misunderstanding the question...I'm thinking that it's the witness we're asking not the actual suspect, but reading other people's responses makes it seem like we're questioning the one who robbed the bank.

Well I got really into this simple question o_o


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## Destiny Lund (Sep 2, 2011)

Why? 
ENFP


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## .17485 (Jan 12, 2011)

Why? Type ISFP


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## Art Deco Duckling (May 24, 2012)

Greatest question ever: WHY? Just why?


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## MooseAndSquirrel (Apr 10, 2012)

Kainita said:


> Say you were a detective and you were just called to an overnight bank robbery scene. *There is one witness* and the other detectives were waiting on you to come before questioning him. You are only able to ask him one question, which question word would you use to ask your question? You only get one.
> 
> Please post your type and response question.



INFJ here. I re-quoted the question because it seems there's some confusion as to _who_ is being interviewed - in this case the witness, not the suspect. Totally makes a difference in the reasons people are giving for their choice....


If I only get one question I'd go with *"What"* - as in "what did you see", "what did you see/hear", "what happened" etc. It's open-ended enough that the witness is more likely to include clues and information that also cover the "when", "where" and "who" category.

Asking the witness "why" seams pointless. If I'm the detective it's up to me and my team to figure out the "why", not the witnesses. 

"Where" doesn't seem much more helpful either. The location of the crime ("where") is already known. Unless the witness is going to tell me where they were (i.e. standing etc.) when the crime happened, "where" isn't likely to prompt enough elaboration to get the most clues. I seriously doubt the witness is going to now "where" the suspect went either. 

Same with asking "who", as in "did you see who did it?", "do you know/recognize who the suspect was?" The odds are pretty slim that the witness is going to say "yeah, it was that shifty bastard Joe the plumber" :laughing:.

.


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