Google Forms: A Tool that will help us with Surveys
Our institution email, which is supported by the Google company, gives us access to various tools which can be very useful in the course of our university life, one of which will be of greatest help in the process of taking surveys. for our various subjects is Google Forms (Google Forms), which allows us to create a simple form depending on the needs that we have, at the same time it facilitates the work of tabulation since when carrying out these surveys online the data that is entered they are stored in a spreadsheet which does not help with working with the data obtained. This useful tool also allows us to plan events, ask our colleagues or friends questions and thus collect other types of information easily and simply. A Google Form can connect to a Google Spreadsheet. If there is a spreadsheet linked to the form, responses will automatically be sent to the spreadsheet. Otherwise, users can view them on the “Responses Summary” page, accessible from the “Responses” menu.
Another advantage that working with this type of file gives us is that we can share our survey with any user by sending them the address that is generated or using the option to share our form through social networks. In order to create a form through our accounts, we can do it with the help of our email and enter the Drive option where we can find the form creation option. Google forms are widely used to create surveys quickly and easily, as they allow you to plan events, ask your employees or customer’s questions, and collect various types of information in a simple and efficient way. They allow us to include different types of questions such as short answers, paragraphs, multiple selection, check boxes, drop-down, linear scale, grid of several options, among others.
Disadvantages of using Google forms
- Design customization for the form is very limited. More advanced users can change the layout to use the tool for a greater number of purposes.
- It is necessary to have internet to be able to use this tool.
- Its handling could not be safe if the user does not create a good password and protect it, or if the user makes a mistake trying to share files with his group, and makes them accessible to the public.
- There are certain limitations regarding the capacities that the tool accepts depending on the document format: for texts, up to 500 Kb; images, up to 2 Mb; and for spreadsheets up to 256 cells or 40 sheets.
Advantages of using Google Forms
- It is a free tool, through the Internet, that allows you to collect information easily and efficiently.
- With Google forms you can create surveys and forms in minutes to give a class, a talk or to ask your clients and/or collaborators.
- To start using them, you only need a Google account, the same one with which you access Gmail, YouTube or Google Drive.
- The interface is very easy to use. Any user with average computer knowledge can create forms and display it.
- The wizard is simple to use. The What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get interface makes it easy to drag and drop form elements and organize them based on actions or events.
- At the design level, it is possible to choose between a color palette, as well as your own images as a background.
- Google Forms saves the feedback received so that we can analyze it, especially if we are talking about customer surveys or user support.
- Forms integrate with Google spreadsheets allowing access to a spreadsheet view of the collected data for easy analysis.
- The general configuration of the forms or surveys allows you to collect the email addresses that will receive the form, limit the responses, so that respondents can see summary graphs and a progress bar, etc.
- The type of data that can be inserted into a field can be customized based on regular expressions for advanced users. This allows you to customize the form even more.
- This tool allows us to see how the survey will look before sending it to the recipients.
- We can send the form by email, integrate it on our website or send the link via social networks or any other means.
- Google Forms allow unlimited questions and answers at no cost, while other alternatives require payment based on audience and number of questions.
