in what ways 用法同詞性

I disagree with baggio4182007 (001) in a couple of issues.

1.
Both In what way and How are adverb.
It is true that an adverb is used to give more details to a verb. Let's look at this sentence:

We can finish the work on time with electrical tools.

With electrical tools is an adverb phrase, so is on time. Putting the same sentence into a question, we say:

How / In what way can we finish the work on time?

It is easy to see that How or In what way are adverb.

2.
How and In what ways are not exactly same though their meaning and usage is similar.

How is more general and casual but the question beginning with In what ways expects a more specific answer. Let's look at the examples:

How can we relieve poverty in society? 答案可以是很高層次，理論和空泛。
In what ways can we relieve poverty in society? 要求是具體可行方法。

That's way in exam questions, questions are phrased using In what ways.

In what ways is exactly as how.
Neither In what ways nor How is an adverb.
An adverb is an adjective to describe the verb.
In what ways is simply a sentence of questioning, so as How.

You right that when people making important speech or essay they will use In what ways instead of How. Nevertheless in contemporary English people starting to use How more often.