Questionquestions

Questionquestions is a term used in online discourse and educational contexts to describe the practice of asking numerous, layered questions about a given question. It emphasizes depth, clarity, and the interrogation of assumptions, scope, and purpose. The phrase functions as a rhetorical and methodological idea rather than a formal linguistic category, and it does not have a single, fixed definition.

In practice, questionquestions appears in pedagogy, writing, and research design where critical thinking is valued. It is used to guide analysis by forcing one to consider what is being asked, why it matters, what counts as evidence, and what alternatives or counterarguments exist. The term is often employed in discussions about Socratic methods, inquiry-based learning, and questionnaire design, though it remains informal and context-dependent.

Typical use involves a sequence of steps: identify the core question; generate a set of subquestions focusing on purpose, scope, assumptions, and evidence; examine the relationships between questions; and test whether answers to later questions would change earlier conclusions. This process helps reveal hidden premises and strengthens argumentation or data collection.

Example: 'Before drafting the survey, the team engaged in questionquestions about the main research question to ensure the questions would reliably measure the intended construct.'

See also: Socratic method, meta-question, critical thinking, inquiry-based learning.