How to Create Google Forms
Any NBER staff member can create a Google Form; it is not necessary to go through IT, however if you would like some assistance, please contact it-support@nber.org. We strongly suggest reviewing the FAQs and standards for NBER Forms below to ensure an efficient workflow, including a pre-made template with the NBER logo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Important: Granting permission to a Google Form does NOT automatically grant access to its responses. Be sure to adjust the sharing settings separately.
- How do I change sharing access to Google Form responses?
- How do I set up my form to allow for attachments?
- How do I share a form with folks who do not have a Google account?
Standards for NBER Forms
We strongly recommend you do the following when sharing forms at NBER to ensure content is accessible where needed.
- Use the NBER template unless you have a special logo for your event. You can create a copy of the NBER template form.
- After you create your form, make sure that responses are exported to a Google sheet, and that this sheet is viewable to anyone at NBER. Note that the definition of "anyone" in this case are administrative staff with NBER Gmail accounts. This does not include researchers with NBER forwarding addresses. For a complete explanation on permissions for forms, please see the Settings section.
Building Your Form
Creating Questions
You can create questions in google forms by clicking on the + button from the panel on the right hand side of the page. On the question box that pops up, you can choose the type of question you want from the dropdown menu in the top right corner of the question box.
Questions That Require Files and Attachments
When selecting the File upload question type, you can allow respondents to submit files and attachments. You can specify allowed file types, set a maximum number of files, and define a file size limit. Submitted files will be automatically stored in a folder within your Google Drive. For more information, click here.
Forms that include file upload questions cannot be placed in a shared drive. If a form is moved to a shared drive, the file upload feature will be disabled, preventing respondents from submitting files. For more information on how to upload files within your Google Form, click here.
Sending Your Google Form
You can share your form with others in order to get responses. You can do so by clicking the Send button at the top right corner of the page.
This will direct you to a box where you can choose the options to send your form. You can either send it via email, link, or embedded html. It is advised to use either email or the link.
When sending your form via link, it is recommended to click the Shorten URL option to make the link more concise.
Note: Always test your form first before sharing with others.
Responses
Please note that the responses must be deliberately shared with everyone at NBER with at least view-only access to ensure visibility for those working together.
You can organize your Responses by linking a Google Sheet to your Google Form. When creating a Google Form, under the Responses Tab, click on the Google Sheets Icon.
From there, you can choose to either Create a new Spreadsheet or Select a Current Spreadsheet.
Settings
You can regulate how you collect responses through the Settings tab when creating your Google Form. This includes the number of responses, editing a response, etc.
Requiring an Email Address
Be sure that you require an email address and name unless the form is intended to be anonymous. You can choose Verified to require respondents to sign in with Google, or select Responder input to allow them to manually enter their email address in the form.
Respondents Without A Google Account
When creating a Google Form, if you plan on receiving responses from those without a Google Account you must unselect both options under the “requires sign in” category in the Settings Section of your Google Form. This allows the ability to fill out your Google Form without signing into a Google Account.
Granting Permission to the Google Form Responses and File Uploads
- Open Google Drive on your computer or mobile device.
- Select the file or folder you want to share.
- Click the Share button in the top right corner.
- You can click the Restricted button and grant general access to a staff member with a Google account by selecting National Bureau of Economic Research. If you need to provide access to others, such as researchers, simply enter their email addresses in the “Add people, groups, and calendar events” field.
- Choose the permission level you want to grant, and click the Done button.
- Click the Done button.
Previewing Your Google Form
You can preview your form by clicking on the eye icon located at the top of the page.
For support, please email it-support@nber.org