This article walks you through connecting a Qualtrics survey to a Google Sheet, then building a live report on that data in Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio). Once set up, new survey responses flow into the sheet automatically and the report updates on its own, no manual exporting or copy-pasting required.
Before You Start
- A Qualtrics account with permission to create Workflows on the survey in question.
- A Google account with edit access to the destination Google Sheet, and membership in the Shared Drive if the sheet lives in one.
- Use your Dartmouth Google Workspace account for this, not a personal Gmail account. The workflow is tied to whichever account you connect, and using a personal account risks breaking the integration if that account is ever lost or deactivated.
- A Google Sheet already created, with a header row for each field you want to capture, for example Response ID, Date, and one column per survey question.
Part 1: Build the Workflow in Qualtrics
Step 1: Create the Google Sheet
Create the destination sheet before building anything in Qualtrics. If it needs to live in a Shared Drive rather than a personal Drive, create it directly inside that Shared Drive folder rather than moving it there afterward. Add a header row with a clear name for each column, since these headers are what Qualtrics will map data into later.
Step 2: Create the Workflow
In Qualtrics, open the survey and go to the Workflows tab. Create a new workflow and set it to start when an event is received. Choose Survey Response, then check Newly Created Responses so the workflow fires every time someone submits.
Step 3: Add the Google Sheets Task
Add a task and search for Google Sheets. When prompted, connect the Google account that should own this integration (your Dartmouth Google Workspace account). That account needs edit access to the destination sheet, or membership in the Shared Drive if applicable, or the sheet will not show up when browsing for it. Choose Add a Row to a Google Sheet, then select the sheet created in Step 1.
Step 4: Map the Fields
Click Add Field, then Add All Fields to bring in every column header from the sheet. For each field, click into the Data side and use the piped text icon to choose what populates that column.
- For a multiple choice question: choose Survey Question, select the specific question, then choose Selected Choices. This pulls in the actual answer text, such as Extremely Satisfied, rather than a numeric code.
- For an open ended question: choose Text Entry instead, since there is no choice list to select from.
Step 5: Test and Publish
Submit a real test response and confirm the row lands correctly in the sheet, then turn the workflow on. A few details worth knowing going in:
- Timestamps from Qualtrics are sent in Mountain Standard Time regardless of your account settings, so plan for a conversion if a different time zone matters for reporting.
- If a respondent can retake the survey, each retake adds a new row rather than replacing the original.
- The task is limited to 60 calls per minute per connected account, which only matters for very high volume surveys.
- A sheet full of formulas can slow this down, so it is best to keep a raw data tab separate from any tab that has formulas or dashboard elements on it.
Part 2: Build the Report in Google DataStudio (formerly known as Looker)
Step 1: Connect the Data Source
Go to lookerstudio.google.com and start a new report. Add a data source, choose the Google Sheets connector, and select the file and the specific tab that holds the survey data.
Step 2: Check the Field Types
Looker Studio will guess a type for each column automatically. Confirm that text based fields, such as answer choices, are set as a Dimension rather than a Metric, so they group and filter correctly instead of being treated as numbers to add up.
Step 3: Build the Visuals
A few visuals tend to cover most reporting needs for a survey like this:
- A bar or pie chart showing the count of each response category.
- A time series chart showing response volume by day or week.
- A scorecard showing total responses received.
- If the survey captures a segment such as department or audience, a table or stacked bar broken out by that field.
Step 4: Set the Refresh Behavior
Looker Studio refreshes its data source periodically rather than instantly. Data freshness settings are available on the data source itself if a shorter cache window is needed.
Step 5: Share the Report
There are two layers of permission to keep in mind. Sharing the Looker Studio report controls who can view the dashboard, while the underlying Google Sheet carries its own separate permissions. A viewer typically needs access to both the report and the underlying sheet, unless the report is specifically configured to use the report owner's credentials for data access.
Maintenance Notes
Adding a new survey question later is a two part update. First, add a new column to the Google Sheet. Second, add a matching field mapping in the Qualtrics workflow. The report will pick up the new column automatically once it appears in the sheet, though a new chart may need to be added manually to display it.
See Related Articles to the right for more information.