Using Google Forms to Build an Effective Survey Instrument

1. Using Google Forms to Build an Effective Survey Instrument
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2. 1) Title & Form Settings
● Craft a meaningful and effective title.
● The title keeps visitor on track and increases your chances of collecting valuable data.
● Keep focused and collect only data that you’re actually going to use.
● Form Description should contain the following:
o Description of what the survey respondent will encounter.
o Eventual instructions for how to complete an item.
o A link or email address for additional help (if applicable).
● This field is somewhat HTML compatible, so you can embed links out to other sites, if you want.
● Things to consider:
o Display a “percent done” bar at the bottom of the form.
o Record a user’s name.
o Force a sign-in before taking the survey.
o Tip: if you’re collecting data from a global audience, and not just from your Apps domain, it’s
best to leave those two options unchecked - otherwise the survey respondent will be prompted to
sign in before responding to the survey. And if they can’t, you’ll be left with no data.
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3. Fig 1. - Editing the beginning of the survey is important, too, since this might keep your survey
respondents hooked enough to answer all your questions. It’s also a great place to put initial
directions, or links to helpful sites or resources.
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4. 2) Layout Options
● Section Header
o Breaks up the form in different
sections to simplify and organize
your data.
o inserted through the same menu
you’d insert a new question.
o Each section header allows for a
section description so make use
of it when asking complex data.
o it doesn’t collect any data, nor
does it become part of the
spreadsheet data.
Fig 2. - The Section Header, in Edit Mode, and what it
looks like on the live survey (above). The Section
Header can structure a survey nicely by breaking into
smaller manageable chunks.
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5. ● Page Break
o Allows for multiple pages in your survey.
o So you could ask a set of questions, then have the survey respondent move to a new page, for
a new set of questions.
o Using form logic, which directs people to a different page based on a question answer.
o Allows you collect data from a wide set, and allows you to tailor the next set of questions
specifically.
o However, more often than not, you’ll end up with a very complex data set (back in your
spreadsheet), and you’re less likely to get something valuable from that.
o Use Page Break if you’re asking 10-15 questions and especially if your users visit your site from
a mobile device.
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6. Fig 3. - The Page Break, above, in Edit Mode, and then right after. Notice how the Page Break makes
a physical break visible - in the live form you’ll see a “Continue>>” button, which will take the survey
respondent to the next page of the survey. It’s a good idea to use the Page Break and Section
Headers together, strategically. But, probably best not to involve too many pages...
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7. 3) Images & Videos
● You can use images and videos in your survey
● On the downside, you want people to stick with
your survey, and having them watch a two-
minute video before answering questions might
be more than most people want to do. In those
cases, you stand a chance getting either bad
data (where they skip to the questions before
having seen the whole video) or, worse yet, no
data at all.
● Use videos and images if they’re worth it, or if
you can force the survey respondent to engage
with the material.
● Consider using only one image or video rather
than multiple pieces in the same survey
● To insert, select from your Google Drive, and
videos must be hosted on YouTube.
Fig 4. - Inserting videos is easy - Google Forms uses the same
video manager as in all the other tools, like Google Presentation.
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8. 4) Confirmation & Editing Responses
● This is where you would edit what the users will see when they’re done with your survey.
● Leave a message or some sort of direction as to what’s next.
● Do not leave the default text.
● You can also let a survey respondent edit their response, which is great for any kind of ordering
● If you want to a link to retake the survey, you can set that too - great for multiple inputs, or when you’re
administering the survey from a kiosk or mobile device to a group.
● Confirmation Page
o Gives you the ability to publish
survey results.
o Exercise caution especially if
you’re asking for
personal/sensitive data
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