Blog
Tips, recommendations, news, and product updates about surveys and optical mark recognition.
AI-Generated Survey Responses: How Bots Are Corrupting Online Survey Data
Online surveys have a growing credibility problem. AI-powered bots can now complete survey forms at scale, generating responses that are increasingly difficu...
The Science of Questionnaire Layout: How Form Design Affects Response Quality
Two surveys with identical questions can produce different data if they are laid out differently. This is not a theoretical concern. Decades of research in s...
Surveying Hard-to-Reach Populations: Methods That Work
A national health survey conducted exclusively online will miss the populations most affected by health disparities: older adults without smartphones, rural...
Likert Scales: Designing Rating Questions That Produce Reliable Data
Rensis Likert introduced the summated rating scale in 1932. Nearly a century later, the Likert scale remains the most widely used question format in survey r...
A Guide to Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) for Schools and Universities
Schools and universities process enormous volumes of paper forms every year. Exam answer sheets, course evaluations, enrollment forms, feedback surveys, and...
How Survey Incentives Affect Response Rates: A Research Summary
If you want more people to complete your survey, should you offer an incentive? The short answer from decades of research is yes. The longer answer is that t...
Akindi Alternatives for Universities and Research Teams
Akindi has built a solid reputation in higher education as a modern Scantron alternative. Upload a scan of your bubble sheet answer forms, and Akindi grades...
GradeCam Alternatives: Cloud OMR Without the Per-Teacher Subscription
GradeCam (now Gradient, part of GoGuardian) has been a go-to paper grading tool for K-12 teachers. You print a bubble sheet, students fill it in, and GradeCa...
ZipGrade Alternatives for Teams and Institutions
ZipGrade is a popular mobile grading app that lets individual teachers scan multiple-choice answer sheets with a phone camera. For a single classroom, it doe...
Trade-Show and Event Feedback: Why Paper Beats QR Codes (and How to Process It Fast)
You have seen the setup at every trade show and conference: a QR code on a table tent, a sign that says "Scan to give us your feedback," and a URL printed on...
Remark Office OMR Alternatives: Cloud-Based OMR for Any Device
Remark Office OMR by Gravic is one of the longest-running optical mark recognition products on the market. It has been a reliable choice for organizations pr...
Running Paper Surveys in Low-Connectivity Field Research
A research coordinator for a maternal health study in rural Malawi described her data collection setup: a stack of printed questionnaires, a box of pens, and...