This page shows how elements of a systems can be eliminated as causes in problem troubleshooting. The principles of twenty questions are frequently used in the business world to conduct computerized searches of massive data bases. These are called a binary searches and are one of the fastest search methods available. To conduct binary searches, data must be sorted in order or alphabetized. The computer determines which half of the list contains the item. The half containing the item is divided in half again and the process repeated until the item is found or the list can no longer be divided. Problem solvers should avoid focusing on the cause and instead ask which elements of the system can be eliminated as causes.
