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Switch to Domandata

Switch from Microsoft Forms to Domandata

Microsoft Forms is a solid quick-survey tool inside Microsoft 365, but it has no randomized treatment arms, no visual branching logic, and no path to SPSS or Stata.

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Microsoft Forms is convenient if your institution already runs Microsoft 365 — but it's built for quick internal surveys and quizzes. There's no concept of a randomized treatment arm, branching is limited to simple per-question logic, and responses export to Excel only, with no codebook or stats-software output.

Why researchers switch from Microsoft Forms

What Domandata does specifically to make social science research easier than Microsoft Forms.

From a shuffle option to real experiments

Treatment arms, stratified assignment, and permutation sets replace Microsoft Forms' single shuffle-questions option.

A visual map instead of per-question branching

A flow canvas shows every routing path and condition at once, rather than clicking into each question's branching settings one at a time.

Data that leaves Excel behind

Native SPSS/Stata files, a generated codebook, and randomization audit columns replace an Excel export you'd otherwise recode by hand.

Quotas and preregistration Microsoft Forms doesn't have

Path-aware quotas, OSF integration, and instrument fingerprinting aren't available in Microsoft Forms at any license tier.

Domandata vs. Microsoft Forms

FeatureDomandataMicrosoft Forms
Randomized treatment assignmentRandomized treatment arms with weighted, stratified, or balanced allocation, plus permutation sets that shuffle values across variables without within-respondent repeats — all built in, no scripting.No concept of treatment arms or permutation sets; only a shuffle-questions option.
Quotas & partner status linksPath-aware quotas on treatment arms and Flow endings, with shareable quota-status links so partners can watch fill counts live without editor access.No quota system at all; the form stays open until you manually close it.
Branching, piping & flow logicVisual flow canvas shows every routing path, condition, and piped variable at a glance.Simple per-question branching ('branching based on this answer') — no piped text, no multi-condition logic.
Research-specific question typesConjoint, MaxDiff, card sort, constant sum, text highlighter, click heatmaps, signature, file upload, and AI text/voice chat ship as built-in question types.Basic question types only (choice, text, rating, ranking) — no conjoint, MaxDiff, card sort, or similar.
AI-simulated pilot testingSilicon Samples pilot-test a survey with AI-simulated respondents — built from personas, panel data, or prior responses — before fielding it with real people.No AI-simulated respondent feature.
Power & sample-size planningBuilt-in power and sample-size planning with a Sankey view of expected allocation, right where the survey is built.No built-in power or sample-size planning tool.
Data-quality toolingAutomated quality scores (speeding, straightlining, duplicate devices, bot signals), author-defined attention/dwell/impossible-combination rules, and a human review queue with an exportable cleaning log.None built in beyond basic response validation.
Export to SPSS/Stata/RNative SPSS (.sav) and Stata (.dta) files, a generated codebook, and randomization audit columns (answer order, treatment assignment, fixed-order comparisons) in every export.Responses export to Excel only — no SPSS/Stata files, codebook, or audit columns.
Open Science / preregistrationLock and fingerprint a preregistered instrument, push study artifacts to OSF or Harvard Dataverse, and export a complete replication package — data, code, codebook, and instrument bundled together.No OSF/Dataverse integration or instrument fingerprinting.
PricingFree plan for drafting and previewing instruments; paid plans add Flow, Deploy, Export, and team collaboration, with published self-serve pricing.Bundled with Microsoft 365 licensing rather than sold on its own, with no path to add the features above.

Migrating from Microsoft Forms

Domandata imports directly from a Microsoft Forms link. Share your form so it doesn't require sign-in to respond, then paste that link into Domandata's Import dialog — questions and choices come in automatically.

Import method: Paste your Microsoft Forms link

  1. Share your form without requiring sign-in

    In Microsoft Forms, open Share and confirm the link works for "Anyone with the link" rather than only your organization.

  2. Paste the link into Domandata

    Open Import from your workspace dashboard, choose the Microsoft Forms tab, and paste the link. Domandata pulls in your questions automatically.

  3. Add the logic Microsoft Forms couldn't do

    Build treatment-arm randomization, quotas, and piped text in Flow — none of these exist in a Microsoft Form to import.

  4. Set up your export pipeline

    Decide which exports you need (CSV, SPSS, Stata, codebook) under Export — Microsoft Forms only ever gave you an Excel sheet.

  5. Preview, then swap the shared link

    Walk the survey in Preview, then replace the Microsoft Forms link wherever you distributed it with your new Domandata deploy link.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I import my Microsoft Form automatically?

Yes. Share your form so it doesn't require sign-in to respond, then paste that link into Domandata's Import dialog — questions and answer choices come in automatically.

Does my Microsoft Forms branching logic carry over?

Simple per-question branching imports where possible, but treatment-arm randomization, quotas, and piped text don't exist in a Microsoft Form to import — you'll add those in Flow.

What happens to my existing Microsoft Forms responses?

Import brings over your questionnaire structure, not historical responses. Keep your existing Excel export of responses alongside your new Domandata dataset.

Is there a free plan?

Yes. Domandata's free plan covers drafting and previewing instruments, so you can bring your Microsoft Form over and try it before upgrading for Flow, Deploy, and Export.

Ready to bring your survey over?

Create a free account, then use Import from your workspace dashboard to bring in your Microsoft Forms survey.

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