How can I build web forms and surveys for free?

When you need to collect information from your audience in a simplified, streamlined way, a web form or survey is the way to go. Not only is it a better user experience for your audience over email, but these tools allow you to collect responses and data all in one place, which creates organization and efficiency for you.

University IT provides a couple of free tools that can help you build simple web forms and surveys.

Web Forms Service

The best place to start is the Stanford Web Forms Service. Using this service, you can easily make contact forms, short surveys and polls, evaluations, and many other types of forms. The tool, called Form Builder, provides a selection of pre-formatted fields and elements that make the forms quick and easy to construct. Data collected through the forms can be emailed to you (and other form owners you designate) and/or stored in a database where you can view it through a secure web interface.

For more details, see University IT’s Web Forms Service webpage.

Qualtrics

If your needs are more sophisticated than what’s available through the Web Forms Service, check out Qualtrics. Stanford has a site license to this easy-to-use, full featured, web-based tool for creating and conducting online surveys ... and so much more. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced researcher, it’s likely this tool will be able to meet your needs.

To get started with Qualtrics, see University IT’s Survey Tool (Qualtrics) webpage.