6. Questionnaires
Questionnaire are a great way to find out what other students believe and to share your beliefs. It’s nerve-racking at first, but once you pop you just can’t stop! There are loads of different questionnaires you can use for different times of the year. They can take from 2mins upwards
What you need
Relevant questionnaire (with lots of copies) eg. Valentine’s Day in Feb…
Clipboards and pens
People from the CU, up for questionnairing (if that’s a word!?)
Freebies for people to take away (e.g. Gospels, relevant books, edible goodies)
Tips on questionnairing
People: Get as many people from the CU as possible. Go around the college in pairs. Invite students to take part in the questionnaire in a friendly way. Explain you’re from the CU and are wanting to find out what people in the college think about … (insert title here).
Lead: It’s best for you to take students through the questions and write down their answers.
Discuss some of people’s answers: that’s interesting, what makes you think that? If people would rather not discuss, that’s fine, continue through the questions.
Don’t mock the answers if you think they are odd. Treat all people with gentleness and respect. If you’re not sure what someone means, ask them to explain a bit more.
What to do before the questionnaires
Pray: Give it all to God. Ask Him to use you all, make it happen and bring people along! It’s all about Him and for Him, so praying is a great start.
Permission: Make sure you ask for permission to do questionnaires and explain that you will collate the results and publish the findings on college noticeboards and/or the CU Facebook page.
CU Meeting: Explain the idea to the CU; know the questionnaire – go through it; decide on a day to launch them; and think about answers to any difficult questions that might crop up.
Event: Plan to put on a related hot potato that you can invite people to.
What to do after the questionnaires
Allow the person to finish chatting when they want!
Gospel/Flyer: offer them a Gospel to read and a flyer for an event.
Give Away: a themed freebie eg. Love Hearts for Valentine’s Day
Thank them for their time and for taking part in the questionnaire!
Meet up with the rest of the CU. It’s a great idea to pray for those you’ve spoken to.
Collate: As soon as possible, collate the results for each measurable question: ie 75% of the college think that Jesus is the Son of God; 25% think that Jesus is a myth.
Publish: Put the results up on college noticeboards – wherever you have permission. Don’t stop there. Try other questionnaires at other times of the year.
