Can you do ranking questions in Google Forms? (Answer: NO)
No, you can’t do ranking questions in Google Forms. A lot of blog posts (like… 178 million of them) say that you can, but you can’t. Here’s why…
Those blog posts tell you to use the “Multiple Choice Grid” question on Google Forms, but you can see from the screenshot below that their simple ranking question can’t even fit on screen on a desktop monitor, nevermind a phone (and 57% of all online surveys in Q4 2022 were taken via mobile devices).
Plus, you need to do some custom configuration to even make the Multiple-Choice Grid suitable for ranking questions (you need to configure response limits and requirements for columns and rows).
Google Forms’ only alternative to the Multiple-Choice Grid is a “Linear Scale” question like the example below:
But linear scales don’t include any comparison, the most important ingredient in ranking.
If the aim of your survey is to inform a big decision, you’ll want your survey to simulate that same decision for participants. Ranking questions forces respondents to compare/consider each option and show what’s most important to them. Linear scales do the opposite of this, asking respondents to consider each option completely in isolation — this is not the kind of data you need.
MeasuringU’s 2020 literature review of the effectiveness of linear scale survey questions showed that (1) you need to include a lot of options in a linear scale to get good data, but (2) more options cause much lower completion rates, and also that (3) rating scales are interpreted very differently by respondents from different parts of the world.
So don’t use Linear Scales either. Instead, here are some question formats that are better for your research (and your respondents’ sanity)…
3 Ranking Methods Better Than Google Forms
1. Drag-and-Drop Rank Ordering
This is most likely what you wanted in the first place. Participants see a list of options that they drag and drop into their preferred order, with the overall average being used to calculate the final scores. More info here or jump straight in and create a ‘Order Rank’ question (free!).
2. Pairwise Comparison
If you have 10 or more options to rank, showing people the full list altogether isn’t a great user experience, especially for mobile respondents. A better approach for everyone is to break the list down into a series of head-to-head votes and use the win-rate to rank the options from highest to lowest — that’s how Pairwise Comparison ranking works. Check out my guide to pairwise comparison surveys or create a free pairwise comparison survey now. (Also, Pairwise Comparison is also a great way to rank images on mobile devices!)
3. Points Ranking
While Pairwise Comparison is a great way to surface people’s implicit priorities (what they subconsciously care about), Points Ranking is a simple way to surface their explicit priorities. Points Ranking lets respondents distribute a budget of points amongst a set of options. This reveals not only reveals the comparative order of their preferences, it also shows the magnitude of their preferences. Learn more about points ranking or create a free points ranking survey.
What research tool should I use instead of Google Forms for my ranking survey?
The three ranking types just described are all available for free on OpinionX, where you can create unlimited ranking surveys for $0 (no trial or credit card, it’s all on the free tier). But if you’d rather take a wider view of what’s available, here’s a breakdown of 6 free alternatives to Google Forms for creating ranking surveys.
