By effectively utilizing Google Forms, you can sort, manipulate, and track a detailed database of information gathered from a number of sources. This tutorial will show you how to create a Google Form, how to send it to as many people as you would like, and how to manipulate the data afterward in Google Sheets. This tutorial is also in a video on YouTube.
Creating the Form
Begin by opening the main dashboard of Google Drive, and by clicking the “new” button and selecting “Form.” You can also right-click the dashboard, navigate the cursor to “More,” and create a new form.
The form menu will appear, and you can begin filling in the questions you would like to be answered. Add a title to your form, then fill in the questions below.
For our example, we will be taking the names, emails, and other information from the recipient.
Question Types
The first type of question will be Short answer – the first field, ‘First Name’, has a selection box to the right. This allows the report creator to decide how the recipient will answer the question. You may choose between various options, but most reports utilize common question types like short answer or multiple choice.
The ‘First Name’ field will be left as a short answer, but we will also make it a required field. Making a field required will place a red asterisk next to the question for the recipient, and they will not be able to submit the form without answering this question. This option is toggled on the bottom right of the question box. We will do the same process with the next two fields, ‘Last Name’ and ‘Email Address.’
To ensure the recipients enter valid dates, we will choose the “Date” option in the question type selection box. This ensures that the data we receive from the form recipients will be uniform and in a valid format. The specific date format (whether month/day/year, day/month/year, or other variation) can be modified as well.
We will use the multiple-choice option for questions with a specific answer out of a list. This will create the “What time should we contact you?” field, allowing recipients to answer with three options. The number of choices can be added with the “Add Option” button or subtracted with the “X” button on the right side.
Additionally, multiple-choice questions can have multiple answers. The “Do you own a car?” field will use a check-mark multiple-choice option, which allows users to select as many options as are applicable.
Sending the Form
With a paid G Suite account, you have the option of clicking a box at the top of the “Send Form” window to automatically collect email addresses within your organization. Otherwise, there are multiple ways to send the form to recipients.
If you contact me here or email me at po@prolificoaktree.com, you will receive a code for 20% off of your first year of G-Suite. If you sign up for G Suite using this link and apply the code during checkout, the discount will be applied.
You can email a notice to your list about the form. This notifies the users about the form itself, and you can also choose to include the form itself inside the email so that recipients can immediately fill it out upon receiving the notice.
Google Forms can also produce a link you can send via various forms. This gives your users a clickable option that doesn’t use their email (for sending through text messages, for instance).
Lastly, you can embed the form as HTML directly into your website. This option keeps the form on your webpage so your users don’t have to leave.
Analyzing the Data
To analyze the responses received, return to the form’s main page and click the “Responses” tab next to the “Questions” tab. This allows you to graph the data received from the form.
The database, which holds all the raw data you have received, is visible on the upper right side of this menu.
Now that you have the data in Google Sheets, you can manually sort and analyze everything at a glance!
