Identify three sources of information when investigating a problem or issue. Compare steps you would take to refine the solutions to a problem with steps to refine resolutions of an issue?

Information needs to determine what the problem is, why the problem has occurred, and find supporting documentation to back up what the problem is and why it happened.

The problem solving process has seven steps, these are:

• Define and identify the problem
• Analyze it
• Identify solutions
• Select the best solution
• Evaluate solutions
• Develop an action plan
• Implement

Taking these steps one can refine the solution to the problem by using the seven steps to consider all different solutions and determine why one might work over another until one solution comes out better than the rest.

• Example

Consider a computer program that is not functioning properly. First, one has to define what the problem is by examining what error is occurring. Is the program not loading at all? Does it shut down at a certain point? What key strokes may have made the program shut down?

So, the what, the why, and the how are three very important sources of information that need to be answered in order to complete step one in the problem solving process. Once these questions are answered one can analyze the results in further detail to find out if there is something else that needs to be known. All problems tend to answer the question of who, what, why, how and where, though some of the W's and H may be unnecessary such as who, depending on the type of problem one is solving. Even the where can be unnecessary if it is not a location but a thing.

By taking into account every aspect of the problem, you should be able to determine a course of action how best to fix it. Without considering every possibility, it can be easy to worsen the problem and increase the eventual cost to fix or replace the problem item.