User Guide > CATI > Quota control

Quota control is used to limit the number of interviews collected in certain categories. This is done by setting targets for those categories.

When enough interviews have been collected to satisfy a target set then no further interviews will be collected for that target.

There are two kinds of entries that can be used for quota control:

•Sample points. If a question marked as a sample point is also marked as a quota point then once a quota is full, no more records in that quota will be presented to the interviewer.

•Interview questions or variables. Entries during the interview marked as quota points will be checked after they are answered and if a quota is full then the interview is terminated as "Out of quota".

The quota file will keep a count of all completed interviews for each response listed in the quota file.

Not all responses need to have a target set, so quota control can be used to count interviews even if no target has been set.

To use quota control you need to do the following:

1.Create single-coded variables for any nested quotas from the interview data

2.Mark entries as "Quota"

3.Use the CATI main menu to create the quota file, see Quota file view

4.Use the CATI main menu to add targets, see Quota file view

5.Name the quota file when the input file for Telin is created.

Targets can be viewed and altered as interviewing is progressing using the CATI menu.

WARNING: other programs cannot be used to alter the quota file when interviewing is in progress.