PE_3 Google Forms, pt.3

I'm done with Survey Monkey. Why pay for something, when it can be had (with better customization and result reporting) for free. I'm completely sold on Google Forms/Spreadsheets. Like I said earlier, the menu items and navigation take a little practice for a rookie. But once you have it mastered, you begin to understand why Google is where it is today.


The simple integration of form and spreadsheet as one document. The elegance of the results graphs. The universal access by anyone or everyone. It all adds up to a powerful set of tools for gathering and analyzing  data, opinion and trends.


I have found the perfect survey tool of my Action Research Project.

PE_2 Google Forms, pt. 2

After entering some sample data in my Google Form I clicked over to the results page. I was greeted with colorful graphs of the bar, line and pie variety. Very nice, clear representations of the data.

results graphs

It took me a few minutes to sort through the navigation. The results are stored in a spreadsheet that is automatically generated, and as I can discern, becomes a view option rather than a new file. 


When I revisited the doc today it remembered the last view I was in when I closed the file last night. Or maybe it defaults to the spreadsheet view. I have not figured this out yet.

spreadsheet view

I'll play with it some more today and post additional findings this evening in PE_3 Google Forms, pt. 3. Stay tuned...

PE_1 Google Forms, part 1

I have chosen to explore Google Forms for my PE assignment this month. I have always relied on surveymonkey.com for my queries, but have wanted to experiment with alternate options. I have created Google Documents and Spreadsheets in the past, so I am familiar with the Google interface and commands. My only experience with Google Forms is on the input and submission side, not creation and implementation.


To begin, I created a test form using one of each of the different types of questions so I could see how they all work. Here's a screenshot of the editing pane.

I'll post a link to the completed form so you can give it a try.