How Form Results Appear in Excel Exports


When you export simulation data to Excel in the Full Report format, form results are included on their own sheet in the Excel file. This guide explains how that sheet is structured and organized. The Simple Table and Coded Forms formats lay form answers out differently, one row per run; see Exporting your data to Excel for research & analysis.

Overview

The Full Report includes form results on a dedicated Form Results sheet, making it easy to analyze form responses alongside other simulation data. Submissions of every form in the activity are included on that one sheet.

Accessing Excel Exports

Step 1: Navigate to Your Space

  1. Go to Your Space: Navigate to the space containing the simulation you want to export
  2. Find the Simulation: Locate the activity on the space's Content tab

Step 2: Export the Data

  1. Click Export Data: Open the activity card's menu and choose Export Data
  2. Select Export Format: In the Export Results dialog, choose Full Report (the dialog starts on Simple Table), then click Export
  3. Download the File: The Excel file will download to your computer

Note: The filename will include the space name, simulation name, and a timestamp (e.g., MySpace_MySimulation_20250115_143022.xlsx  )

Excel File Structure

The Full Report Excel file contains multiple sheets:

  1. Summary Dashboard - Overview of all simulation runs
  2. All Conversations - All chat messages
  3. All Evaluations - Evaluation data
  4. Criteria Details - Detailed criteria information
  5. Evaluator Chat - Evaluator chat messages
  6. Scenario Build - The learner's authoring conversation, for build challenges
  7. Quiz Results - Every quiz submission (if quizzes were completed)
  8. Form Results - Every form submission (if forms were completed)
  9. Analytics Events - The event log

Form Result Sheets

Sheet Organization

  • One Sheet for All Forms: Every form in the activity shares one sheet
  • Sheet Name: The sheet is named Form Results
  • All Submissions: All form submissions from all simulation runs are included in the same sheet

Sheet Structure

Each form result sheet has the following columns:

  1. Run ID - The unique identifier for the simulation run
  2. User Name - The name of the participant who completed the form
  3. Group - The participant's group in the space, if the space uses groups
  4. User ID - The unique identifier for the user
  5. Completion Date - When the form was submitted (formatted as date and time)
  6. Question Name - The internal field name for the question (e.g., "question1", "experience_level")
  7. Question Title - The actual question text as shown to participants
  8. Answer - The participant's response to the question

When you export a whole space with Export space data, the Form Results sheet also has an Activity column.

Row Structure

Important: Each row represents one question-answer pair. This means:

  • Each answered question gets a row, so if a participant answers 5 questions, their submission creates 5 rows. Matrix and dynamic-panel questions take one row per part, titled "Question - part"
  • All metadata (Run ID, User Name, etc.) is repeated in each row for that submission
  • This structure makes it easy to filter, sort, and analyze individual questions

Example:

Run ID    | User Name | Group   | User ID | Completion Date      | Question Name | Question Title        | Answer
----------|-----------|---------|---------|----------------------|---------------|----------------------|----------
run-123   | John Doe  | Group A | user-1  | 2025-01-15 14:30:22 | q1            | What is your name?   | John
run-123   | John Doe  | Group A | user-1  | 2025-01-15 14:30:22 | q2            | What is your email?  | [email protected]
run-123   | John Doe  | Group A | user-1  | 2025-01-15 14:30:22 | q3            | Rate your experience | 5

Understanding the Data

Question Name vs. Question Title

  • Question Name: This is the internal identifier used by the system (e.g., "question1", "feedback_text")
  • Question Title: This is the actual question text that participants see (e.g., "What is your name?", "Please provide feedback")

Why Both?: Having both allows you to:

  • Use Question Name for consistent analysis across different form versions
  • Use Question Title to understand what participants actually saw
  • Match questions even if the title changes in future form edits

Answer Formats

Answers are formatted based on the question type:

  • Text Questions: Answers appear as typed text
  • Multiple Choice (Checkboxes): Selected options are joined with commas (e.g., "Option A, Option B, Option C")
  • Single Choice (Radio Buttons): The selected option is shown
  • Rating Scales: On this sheet, the chosen value is shown, or its label if the scale has labels. In the Simple Table and Coded Forms formats, numeric scales are exported as a real number, not text — so the column can be averaged and charted straight away, with no "number stored as text" warnings. This holds whichever way the answer was stored, so a form re-authored mid-activity still produces one consistent column. A scale whose points are words rather than numbers keeps its labels.
  • Yes/No Questions: Shows "Yes" or "No", or the labels you gave the question
  • Date Questions: Dates are formatted in a readable format
  • File Uploads and Signatures: The file itself isn't exported; the Answer shows "Yes" when something was uploaded or signed
  • Unanswered Questions: A question the participant didn't answer has no row

Multilingual Support

  • The author’s text: Question titles and choices appear as the author wrote them, in the form’s own language, not as placeholders such as “Item 1”
  • Special choices: Choices such as Other, None, and Don’t know are labeled in the form’s language

“Other” answers and unusual questions

  • “Other” answers: In the Simple Table format, an “Other” answer prints as the Other label, a colon, and what the participant typed, for example Other: my own answer
  • Tag-box, matrix, and dynamic-choice questions: These answers are exported as text
  • Duplicate headers: If two questions share a header, the headers are numbered
  • Unmapped Answers: In the Simple Table and Coded Forms formats, an answer that no longer fits its question — for example, because the question’s type changed after people answered — is listed on an Unmapped Answers sheet with the participant, the question, and the reason, instead of disappearing

Note: For how tag-box questions are laid out in the Coded Forms (SPSS) format, see Exporting your data to Excel for research & analysis.

Working with Form Results in Excel

Filtering Data

  1. Filter by User: Use Excel's filter feature on the "User Name" column to see all responses from a specific participant
  2. Filter by Question: Filter by "Question Title" to see all responses to a specific question
  3. Filter by Date: Use the "Completion Date" column to filter responses by time period
  4. Filter by Run: Filter by "Run ID" to see all form responses from a specific simulation run

Analyzing Responses

For Individual Questions:

  1. Filter by a specific "Question Title"
  2. Review the "Answer" column to see all responses
  3. Use Excel's pivot tables or charts to visualize response patterns

For Individual Participants:

  1. Filter by "User Name" or "User ID"
  2. Review all their responses across all questions
  3. Compare responses across different forms (if multiple forms were completed)

For Specific Simulation Runs:

  1. Filter by "Run ID"
  2. See all form responses from that specific simulation session
  3. Correlate form responses with other data in the Summary Dashboard

Common Analysis Tasks

Count Responses:

  • Use Excel's COUNT or COUNTIF functions to count how many participants answered a question
  • Count unique users who completed a form

Find Common Answers:

  • Use pivot tables to see the most common answers to each question
  • Identify patterns in responses

Compare Across Runs:

  • Use the Run ID to group responses by simulation run
  • Compare form responses from different time periods

Export Specific Data:

  • Copy filtered data to a new sheet for focused analysis
  • Create charts and graphs from the form data

Tips for Working with Form Results

Understanding the Structure

  • Remember: Each row is one question-answer pair, not one form submission
  • Grouping: Use Run ID, User Name, or Completion Date to group related rows together
  • Sorting: Sort by Run ID and Question Name to see all questions from one submission together

Data Quality

  • Check for Unanswered Questions: A question that wasn't answered has no row for that submission
  • Verify Question Titles: Each row shows the question title as the participant saw it, so titles can differ between submissions if the form was edited in between
  • Date Formatting: Completion dates are in a standard format (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS)

Excel Features to Use

  • Freeze Panes: Freeze the header row to keep column names visible while scrolling
  • Conditional Formatting: Highlight specific answers or patterns
  • Pivot Tables: Create summary tables of response frequencies
  • Charts: Visualize answer distributions with bar charts or pie charts

Multiple Forms

If your simulation includes multiple forms:

  • One Shared Sheet: All forms share the Form Results sheet
  • Telling Forms Apart: Use the Question Name and Question Title columns to tell which form an answer came from
  • Consistent Structure: Every row has the same column structure, making it easy to compare

Troubleshooting

Form Results Not Appearing

If you don't see the Form Results sheet in your Excel export:

  1. Check the Format: The Form Results sheet exists only in the Full Report format
  2. Check What You Included: If you cleared Form answers under Include in the export dialog, the sheet is left out
  3. Check if Forms Were Completed: The Form Results sheet only appears if at least one form was completed
  4. Verify Form Configuration: Ensure forms are properly configured in the Simulation
  5. Check Export Date: Make sure you're exporting data from a time period when forms were completed

Missing Data

If some form data seems missing:

  1. Check All Sheets: Make sure you're looking at the Form Results sheet
  2. Verify Completion: Ensure participants actually submitted the forms (not just started them)
  3. Check Filters: Make sure no Excel filters are hiding data

Question Titles Not Showing

If you see question names but not titles:

  1. Form Structure: The form may not have titles defined for all questions
  2. Form Version: Titles come from the form as each participant submitted it, so a title may differ between older and newer submissions
  3. Multilingual: Check whether the question has text in the language the participant was shown

Best Practices

Before Exporting

  • Verify Forms Are Complete: Make sure participants have completed the forms you want to analyze
  • Check Form Status: Ensure forms are active and properly linked to the Simulation

After Exporting

  • Review the Form Results Sheet: Check that all expected forms appear in it
  • Verify Data Completeness: Spot-check a few rows to ensure data looks correct
  • Save a Copy: Keep the original export as a backup before making changes

For Analysis

  • Create Summary Sheets: Use pivot tables to create summary views
  • Document Your Analysis: Add notes or comments in Excel to document your findings
  • Use Consistent Formatting: Apply consistent formatting for easier comparison

Example Use Cases

Use Case 1: Analyzing Pre-Simulation Surveys

  1. Open the Form Results sheet
  2. Filter by a specific question (e.g., "What is your experience level?")
  3. Create a pivot table to see the distribution of answers
  4. Compare with simulation performance from the Summary Dashboard

Use Case 2: Reviewing Feedback Forms

  1. Open the Form Results sheet
  2. Sort by Completion Date to see most recent feedback first
  3. Filter by specific questions to identify common themes
  4. Export filtered data to share with stakeholders

Use Case 3: Tracking Participant Progress

  1. Use Run ID to group all form responses from the same participant
  2. Compare responses across different forms (pre vs. post-simulation)
  3. Track how participant responses change over time

Next Steps

After reviewing form results in Excel:

  1. Analyze Patterns: Look for common themes or trends in responses
  2. Create Reports: Use Excel's reporting features to create summaries
  3. Share Insights: Export specific data or create charts to share with your team
  4. Update Forms: Use insights to improve your forms for future simulations

For information on viewing form results in the web interface, see How to View Form Results in Simulation Reports.

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