Methods and systems for controlling portable units in an audience response system when the audience response system is used for retrieving responses to paper-based questions. Some embodiments of the present invention comprise controlling the portable units to be capable of only displaying question indicia and user interface settings associated with assigned questions from paper-based documents, thereby excluding the display of other question indicia associated with non-assigned questions. Graphical user interfaces are also provided for selecting subsets of the questions from the paper-based questions for use in controlling the portable units.