Google spreadsheets has added forms, which allow web users to input data into a spreadsheet that you’ve created. This makes it perfect for running simple surveys. Here’s a quick run-down on how to do it:

First go to Google Docs and create an account if you haven’t already got one. Then make a new blank spreadsheet.

Next, share the spreadsheet by clicking the share button at the top right corner:

You’ll be prompted to name the spreadsheet, and then you get some sharing options. Choose the forms option, then click “Start editing your form”:

Then you’re presented with a form editor which is pretty self explanatory. You can enter a title for the survey, some explanatory text, and then questions which can be short or long text input, multiple choice (with an “other” option), checkboxes, or selection from a list. You can add, edit, delete and re-order questions easily.

When you’re done with the questions, click “Next, choose recipients”. Then you’re presented with various options for giving the survey to people. You can email it to specific people by entering email addresses, and if you like you can embed the form in the actual email (if the recipients can handle html email). Alternatively you can click the “Embed” link at the top right to embed the form in any kind of web page. Just copy and paste the code that’s provided into your web page.

And that’s all there is to it. Columns corresponding to the questions will be automatically created in your spreadsheet, and any data that people enter will appear in the right place, with a timestamp. One thing lacking is data validation, so you can’t check at the input stage to make sure that people have entered appropriate responses, and you can’t have mandatory questions. It also lacks conditional branching questions, so all respondents will get to answer all questions. Despite these limitations, Google Spreadsheets are a very quick and convenient way to run a simple survey or other data collection exercise.

To keep track of new data, you can periodically check the spreadsheet, or you can add this gadget to your iGoogle homepage, which will automatically inform you when there are new entries: