Which set of questions is typically asked to establish scene details?

• A. Who, What, Why, Where, How
• B. When, Who, What, Why
• C. How, Who, Where, Why
• D. Which, What, When, Why

Answer: (A)

When establishing a scene, you want the core details that let you reconstruct what happened: who was involved, what occurred, why it happened, where it happened, and how the events unfolded. These five questions cover the essential elements you need to identify people, actions, motives, location, and the sequence or manner of events. Timing is often determined from context or evidence later, so it isn’t always required in the initial scene detail set. Among the options, the set that includes those five questions provides the most complete and practical foundation for documenting the scene. The other choices omit one of these critical aspects or replace it with a less central term.