Getting Started with Experimental Philosophy
I suspect that many an opponent of XPhi deep in his heart would like to do some experiments yet simply is scared of the technology and computers involved.
Additionally I have the feeling that some XPhi-sympathizers go on dreaming about the theory and need for XPhi, yet never have actually done a single survey.
Let’s change that! Why not just get your first survey out there?
The technical part of Experimental Philosophy doesn’t have to be that hard. With Google Documents and the brand new function “Forms” (more info) getting your first survey out there takes less effort than ever.
To make it really, really easy for the armchairist to taste the scientific flavor of philosophy I have put together a click-by-click tutorial on how to use Google Docs with the new Forms-feature for surveys as used in Experimental Philosophy. The result will be working online surveys with automatic spreadsheet evaluation. Doesn’t sound bad, does it?
Here are your options to get started:
- Take my example mini-survey: click here.
- Download the instructions: click here (PDF, < 1MB)
Please note that the instructions show you how to do a simple survey. Of course for the results to be useful in scientific terms we will have to extend and professionalize the methodology. This instructions are meant as the step 1, sine qua non. Once you have mastered this step, you can and should put more theoretical juice into it.
Got questions, suggestion, ideas? Anybody interested in some collaboration? Please post in the comments section.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
After first time creating form, if I want to edit the form, and then there is no save option. If I want to go back to the main spreadsheet page and save it, the last changes are are not saved.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Hi Debanjan, I had this problem at first, too.
What you do is: Do your changes, then click “Next, choose recipients”, and after the next screen appears you close the editing window.
March 20th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Some reviewers claim “vice-versa” - that is, they claim you can automatically generate a live form from an “existing” Google Docs spreadsheet. Where does Google explain how to do that in their Help area?
April 1st, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Very instructive- thanks!
I was boggled, before reading this post, about how to group-wise analyze my data… COUNTIF saved the day(ta)!
April 1st, 2008 at 9:45 pm
I want to create survey results and tally up the figures for multiple choice answers. How do I do it?
April 8th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Thanks for the instructions…
But I have the same question - how do you count, when there is multiple answers? for that the COUNTIF does not seem to work.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Sorry guys, I am over my head covered in work programming an “XPhi machine.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Thanks! It’s a great how-to!
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Thanks for the tutorial! It was extremely helpful — I was able to create a survey really quickly and easily!
June 20th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Guys, could you let me know how to capture the info (e-mail, IP, name or something) from the person who filled out my Google Form? I created a form (poll) via Google Spreadsheet but I noticed the answers that get populated in the spreadsheet does not tell who wrote who. Can you identify the person somehow?
June 25th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Guys, could you let me know how to capture the info (e-mail, IP, name or something) from the person who filled out my Google Form? I created a form (poll) via Google Spreadsheet but I noticed the answers that get populated in the spreadsheet does not tell who wrote who. Can you identify the person somehow?