This guide takes one paper survey all the way through: design, print, hand out, scan, check, and see the results. It goes into more detail than the Quick Start Guide, and the sections marked More about... open up when you want the finer points.
| Step | Where |
|---|---|
| 1. Create the survey | Surveys › Create Survey |
| 2. Add questions and check the page | Setup tab |
| 3. Print the forms | Print tab |
| 4. Hand out and collect | Away from the computer |
| 5. Scan and upload | Upload tab |
| 6. Check the answers | Verify and Review tabs |
| 7. See the results | Responses and Analysis tabs |
Step 1: Create the survey
On the Surveys page, click Create Survey. Enter a name, choose the language your respondents read, and pick a design for the printed form. Click Create.
With a design picked, the new survey starts with a title and a short "How to fill this in" box, so the printed form explains itself.
Step 2: Add questions and check the page
Click Add question and pick a type. Start simple. A good first survey might include:
- a Single choice question, such as "Overall, how satisfied are you with our service?";
- a Net Promoter Score® question, "How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?";
- a Long Text question for comments, such as "What could we do better?".
Type the question, add the options (Add several… takes a pasted list, one per line), and set Options per line so short options sit side by side. The Preview panel shows the printed page as you go. Click Save when you are done.
More about designing for paper
- Question types. Choice questions and scales are read from the crossed boxes. Short Text, Long Text, Email, Number and Date questions are read from handwriting. See question types and examples and text recognition modes.
- Handwritten fields. Asking for CAPITAL LETTERS in the question text improves recognition of names, codes and emails.
- Fewer pages. Settings › Layout has fonts, margins and Fit to pages, and columns save space on long surveys. See multi-column layout.
- Instructions. See adding instructions to a survey.
- Logos and images. See uploading a logo and adding images.
- The Preview tab shows the whole PDF. It carries a PREVIEW watermark, so never print or scan from it.
Step 3: Print the forms
- Open the Print tab and click Create a version for printing.
- Click Print next to the new version.
- Click Download in the dialog. A large PDF can be sent to your email instead.
- Print the PDF on plain white A4 or Letter paper.
Each page has four corner marks and a QR code, highlighted in orange below. They tell PaperSurvey which survey and page it is reading and how the page lies on the scan. Print at 100% scale, never "fit to page", and check the first printed page: all four corners and the QR code must be on the paper.
More about printing
- One page or several. A single-page survey downloads as one PDF that you print as often as you like. A multi-page survey asks how many copies to make, because each copy gets its own identifier, so its pages can be scanned in any order and still be put back together. See unique survey identifiers.
- Colour is optional. Black and white works just as well. See do I need to print in color.
- Photocopies work, but each generation loses detail. Print from the PDF where you can. See can paper surveys be photocopied.
- Changed the survey after printing? Create a new version on the Print tab before printing again. Forms from older versions are still read correctly.
- Booklets and before/after surveys. See booklet surveys and pre and post surveys.
- Letting others print. See sharing a print link.
Step 4: Hand out and collect
Give the forms to your respondents with a blue or black pen. They cross or fill in one box per answer and write in the text boxes. Collect the completed forms; there is no need to sort them.
More about filling in forms
- Pens. Blue or black ink is best. Light colours such as yellow may not be picked up. See can people use any color pen and pen or pencil.
- Folding and stapling are fine as long as the corners stay readable. See can I fold or staple paper surveys.
- Changed answers. A respondent who crosses two boxes on a single-choice question is flagged for you to check in step 6.
- Stray marks outside the boxes are ignored. See does the software ignore marks outside boxes.
Step 5: Scan and upload
Scan the stack on any scanner, or photograph the pages with a phone's document scanner. Save as PDF, JPEG, PNG, HEIF or TIFF; one PDF can hold every page. Then open the Upload tab and drag the files onto the drop area, or click to choose them. Processing starts straight away and usually takes a few seconds per page.
More about scanning and uploading
- Scanner settings. Grayscale at 300 DPI, with a document feeder if you have one. See recommended scanner settings and minimum image quality.
- Any way up. Pages can be scanned upside down or sideways, as long as all four corners are visible. See do all corners need to be visible.
- Phone photos. Use the phone's document scanner rather than the camera app. See photos taken by a phone.
- Without opening the app. Email the scans to your account's upload address, shown at the top of the Upload tab, or connect Dropbox. See email upload and Dropbox.
- Duplicates are detected, so scanning a page twice does not create two responses. See how duplicate uploads are detected.
- Pages that cannot be read are listed below the upload area with Fix them step by step. See why are my surveys not recognized.
- Blank pages in the stack are skipped. See ignoring blank pages.
Step 6: Check the answers
Most answers need no attention. PaperSurvey flags an answer for you when recognition accuracy is low, when more than one box is crossed on a single-choice question, or when a value does not match its expected format, such as a date.
- Open the Verify tab. The counter on the tab shows how many answers are waiting.
- Compare each answer with the scanned snippet beside it.
- Confirm it, or correct it.
When the tab says there are no responses to verify, you are done.
More about checking answers
The Review tab covers the rest: every recognized answer, flagged or not, listed beside the part of the page it was read from. Sort it by recognition accuracy to see the least certain answers first, hover an answer to correct it, or click an Entry № to open that respondent's whole sheet next to its scanned pages. See reviewing recognized answers.
- More people. Colleagues can verify at the same time. See how multiple users can verify responses.
- Corrections later. See editing responses.
Step 7: See the results
Every response is a row in the Responses tab, ready to filter, edit or Export as Excel, CSV, SPSS, R, SAS or Stata. The Analysis tab charts every question as soon as responses arrive.
Congratulations, you have run a paper survey from start to finish. From here, Exporting Survey Data and Creating an Analysis Dashboard go further, and Your First Web Survey shows how to add an online option to the same survey.