Creating a Survey in Google Documents

Google Documents has the ability to quickly and easily set up a “form” that can be mailed to anyone. Responses are collected in a spreadsheet that can be used on its own or opened with Microsoft Excel.

  1. Go to http://docs.scarletmail.rutgers.edu/ and log in. If you do not have access to Rutgers ScarletApps you can “activate” ScarletApps with your Rutgers NetID. (It is technically possible to use your own personal Google account, but policy is to keep all communication between instructors and students in the Scarletmail university accounts).
  2. Click “Create new” and choose “Form“.
  3. Type a title for the form, and optionally type instructions or introductory text.
  4. Google automatically inserts one or two “sample questions” – start by editing the first question:
    1. In the “Question Title” box, type your question.
    2. Choose the question type.
    3. Enter answer options, when appropriate (for instance, with multiple-choice questions)
    4. Click “Done” to save.
  5. If there is a second sample question, position your mouse over “Sample question 2” – you will then see icons to the right that will allow you to edit or delete this question.
  6. Click the “+” icon on the right to add additional questions, and repeat as necessary.
  7. Click the “Settings” tab above the survey form.
    1. If you are using the “ScarletApps” version of Google Docs, in the “Responses” section, make sure “do not collect” is chosen under the “collect email addresses” setting (for anonymity it’s best to turn it off, although at your preference you may choose to leave it turned on).
    2. In the “Presentation” section, turn off the option to “show link to submit another response”.
  8. When finished, click “Publish” (upper right corner).
  9. Confirm, then copy the link for distribution to your students.

When you want to see the results, go back to Google Documents, open the form and click on the “Responses” tab. You can optionally click the “Link to Sheets” to save the responses in a spreadsheet (available in the Google “Sheets” area) or click the three-dots menu to download the responses.