What is questionnaire?

Identify a research question that can be investigated through surveying people Design questions that will generate useful data (closed, open, scaled) Distribute the questionnaire and collect responses Analyse the data and present findings, evaluating the reliability of the results

Questionnaire | Rainbow Curriculum

How it works

Designing a questionnaire teaches learners about the relationship between questions and data. Closed questions (yes/no, multiple choice) generate quantitative data that can be graphed. Open questions generate qualitative data that needs interpretation. Scaled questions (rate from 1 to 5) produce data that sits between the two.

The design phase is where the most important learning happens. Learners must think carefully about what they want to find out and what kind of question will generate the data they need. Leading questions, ambiguous questions, and double-barrelled questions all produce unreliable data. Teaching learners to recognise and avoid these problems develops critical thinking about information and evidence.

After collecting responses, learners analyse the data. This involves tallying, calculating percentages, creating graphs, and identifying patterns. For open questions, it involves reading responses, identifying themes, and selecting representative quotes. Both processes develop numeracy and literacy simultaneously.

The final step is evaluation: are the results reliable? Was the sample large enough? Were the questions well designed? Would you get different results from a different group? This critical evaluation of their own research method is sophisticated thinking that transfers across subjects.

Classroom example

A Year 9 Health and Well-being class in a Torfaen school investigates: "How much sleep do Year 9 learners get on school nights?" They design a questionnaire with closed questions (bedtime, wake time), scaled questions (how rested do you feel, 1-5), and one open question (what affects your sleep most?). They survey sixty learners across three classes. The data shows that 40% get fewer than eight hours, and the open responses reveal that phone use is the most cited factor. They present findings to the school council with a recommendation about a phone-free bedroom pledge.

Build thinking into your curriculum

Track thinking tools across every AoLE and progression step.

Join the waitlist

Curriculum for Wales connection

Questionnaires develop the "Plan" strand of thinking skills through research design and inquiry planning. They build cross-curricular numeracy through data collection and analysis, and support the Four Purposes by developing "ambitious, capable learners" who can plan and conduct their own investigations.

Rainbow Curriculum's Thinking Tools lens helps you plan where primary research methods are taught across your curriculum, ensuring learners develop systematic approaches to gathering and evaluating evidence.

Tips

Limit questionnaires to ten questions maximum. Long questionnaires produce poor quality data because respondents lose patience.
Pilot the questionnaire with a small group first. If questions are misunderstood, redesign before the full survey.
A common pitfall: designing questions that confirm what learners already believe. Teach them to write neutral questions that genuinely seek information.
Use digital tools for distribution and automatic tallying where appropriate, but ensure learners understand the analysis process.
Combine with graphing and data presentation tools for the analysis phase.

Related tools

KWL/KWHL Grids

A simple grid where learners record what they Know, what they Want to find out, How they will find out, and what they have Learned, structuring inquiry from start to finish.

Learners Set Questions

A strategy where learners generate their own questions about a topic, developing deeper understanding because creating good questions requires more thinking than answering them.

Learning Logs

A structured record where learners regularly reflect on what they have learned, how they learned it, and what they need to work on next.

Living Graphs

An interactive graph where learners place statement cards at the correct position on pre-labelled axes, exploring cause and effect, change over time, and spatial relationships.

Who-What-When-Where-Why-How?

A comprehensive questioning framework that uses the six fundamental questions to ensure learners explore a topic from all angles, preventing gaps in their understanding.