Google Forms – How do they work?

Google Forms is one of the simplest tools to use to collect data and information but as they are connected to a spreadsheet (Google Sheet) they can be very powerful in terms of data analysis.

There are numerous uses for Google Forms but common ones are:

  • Collecting feedback – questionnaire
  • Signing up to an event
  • Data entry – providing a more user-friendly interface
  • Collecting opinions on a topic
  • Collecting answers to a test

So how do they work?

1) Someone creates a form filled with questions.

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2) That is linked to a spreadsheet (Google Sheet).

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3) Someone fills out the form and submits in it.

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4) The answers automatically arrive in the spreadsheet.

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5) Each line of the spreadsheet is a response from someone.

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Even without any analytical tools I can quickly see that in this example, for some this was their first session but not all; on the whole they liked the session; I have some tangible ideas on how to improve next time; and most want to see either grammar or skills in the next session.


As the responses are in a spreadsheet, they can then be analysed in a wide variety of ways and Google Sheets even provides an automatic summary of the responses.

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To show the above, in the Google Sheet, go to Form>Show summary of responses.

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So, how do you make them? See my post “Making a Google Form“.