Sharon Bender - Six Buckets

Six Buckets: What, Why How, When, Who, and Where

Dr. Sharon L. Bender

April, 1994 - May, 2007

Six Buckets of situational questions is a tool that reminds us to ask and answer all six "question words" (what, why, how, when, who, and where) when interviewing, writing reports, or for developing interventions. Adapted from De Bono's (1986) "Six Thinking Hats," this new model has universal application.

Remember to fill the six buckets in any situation in which you want to formulate the complete picture. This approach works well in performing research and in a host of circumstances.
	Figure 2. Six Buckets Situational Questions
Here's a neat little device to help you work up your answers to the six situational questions. It's called a "Graphic Organizer" from: Teacher Vision		I used another version of this in teaching my students how to do project planning in 1998-2006.

In my joint article, Communicating with Online Learners (Bender, Brewer, & Whale, 2006), we stated, "Feedback development can become an easy task to master if you answer a few basic questions concerning any matter." Why are you giving the feedback? Who does the feedback involve? What actions do you want to affect? How might the suggestions be helpful? Where can additional support be found? When is the conclusion expected? These six questions are used very commonly in a variety of circumstances. I have relied heavily upon the use of these questions to formulate thinking and helping my students to do the same when producing a project or in developing a response. I have promoted the use of these question words to students since 1999.

In 1996 I took several courses at TESC in which I learned about the use of words and writing skills. I also learned about using the six questions words in interviewing. I took all four years worth of classes and then rolled them into the two separate degrees (ASM & BA) in 1996/97. I was in the undergraduate program for roughly four years, during which time I took some traditional classes, several online classes, and I produced several portfolios based on life experience. All classes required proctored midterm and final exams. TESC is a regionally accredited university. The three most relative classes were "Interviewing," "Word Power," and "Advanced Business Writing."

In my 1996 paper for the course, Interviewing, I covered the various styles of interviewing, briefly covering how in general, stress interviews solicit the probing what, when, who, how, why, and where questions.

In my 1996 paper for the course, Word Power, I built in what I learned from the Vocabulary Power (1994) seminar, stating, "An individual’s word power can easily be expanded by learning a few skills. The root gives the basic clue to the meaning of a word. But there’s another important clue that runs a close second - the prefix. By identifying the proper prefixes and suffixes, simple words (root words) can be recreated into new ones. A prefix is the word part that comes before the root word (e.g. pre, re, un), and the suffix is the word part that comes after the root word (e.g. er, ness, able, tion, ing)."

In my 1996 paper for the course, Advanced Business Writing, I suggested, "A well-written document contains complete information and follows a logical thought pattern." Suggestions to achieve this clarity include:

Be sure the document answers the who, what, when, where, why, and how questions.
Identify the purpose of the document succinctly and directly.
Begin new paragraphs when introducing new ideas.
Make sure all dates and data are correct.
Eliminate vague statements that lack precision or completeness to ensure clear intent.
Eliminate excess verbiage.

In my 1996 paper for the course, Organizational Writing, I suggested, "Writing the long report is quite the opposite of the e-mailed note. Writing skills are much more important in the long report. The precise subject must be clear in the writer’s mind. It is a good idea to outline or list main ideas and add details later." To be sure all relevant items have been listed, a set of questions aid in preventing any oversights:

WHO? WHAT? WHY? WHERE? WHEN? WHICH? HOW MUCH?

Vocabulary Power, 1994

Whether writing or speaking, your vocabulary says a lot about you. Using the power of words effectively is a consistently important business skill. A good vocabulary makes you a better communicator and makes using words a pleasurable experience. This seminar gives you the tools you need to analyze and understand words, to avoid the most common word usage mistakes, and to build your business and general vocabulary.

In the Vocabulary Power seminar we received "advice on language that is particular to business including idioms, abbreviations, and acronyms." Using a variety of creative learning techniques, we learned:

Greek and Latin roots to decipher the meanings of hundreds of other words
Prefixes and suffixes to help improve your vocabulary
The MEYERS Method for increasing vocabulary (Analyze/Memorize/Utilize)
Techniques for effective use of dictionaries and other resources

This seminar briefly covered the "six question words," but it played a significant role in my use of terms in my the development of my constructs. I am interested in the terms aligning with the same prefixes and suffixes.

Sources

Bender, S. L. (2000). Seven universal characteristics of the American woman entrepreneur: A hermeneutic approach to developing a universal characteristics model. Dissertation. UMI 9988055.

Bender, S. L., Brewer, J., & Whale, R. (2006). Communicating with online learners. ITDL

De Bono, E (1986). Six thinking hats. London: Viking.

TeacherVision (n.d.). Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.