Interlocking quotas

This tutorial explains how to limit respondents in multiple categories, for example, by gender and age. This is known as an interlocking quota.

The questions used are from the Reference Survey Pak (Personal demographics) supplied with Snap XMP.

Step 1: Create a derived variable

To set up an interlocking quota, you first need to set up a derived variable in your survey.

1. Open the survey in Snap XMP Desktop.
2. Click Variables on the Snap XMP Desktop toolbar. This opens the Variables window.
3. Click New variable to create a new variable.
4. Name the variable AgeGenderGroup, and label it Age and gender groups.
5. Set the Type to Derived, the Response to Single.

6. In the code list add the code labels and values:

Label	Values
Males under 25	Q1=1 AND Q2=1
Males 25 and over	Q1=1 AND Q2=(2,3,4)
Females under 25	Q1=2 AND Q2=1
Females 25 and over	Q1=2 AND Q2=(2,3,4)

7. Click Save to save the variable.

Step 2: Set up the quota for the variable

1. Select View | Quotas and Screen Outs. This opens the Quota and Screen Outs window. (Prior to build 12.10 this was on the Tailor menu.)
2. Click New Quota or Screen Out then select New Quota. This opens the Quota dialog.
3. In Name, enter AgeGenderQuota.
4. In Variable, select the variable AgeGenderGroup. When the variable is selected, all the answer codes are shown in the Details table. The target for each category can be entered as a number or percentage. When a target number is entered the percentage and overall target will automatically be updated. Once interviewing has started Actual and % show the latest response counts.

5. When the quota is exceeded, the participant is directed to a web page or shown a custom message. In multilingual surveys, select the language then enter the message for the selected language. Further details can be found at: Notifying the participant when a quota or screen out is exceeded
6. Click OK to save the quota. The Quota and Screen Outs window shows the new quota.

Step 3: Enable the quota

You can enable quotas individually or at the survey level. Quotas are enabled at a survey level, by default. This can be changed in the Quota Control dialog.

In the Quota dialog, select Enabled to activate the selected quota. Clear Enabled to disable the selected quota.

If there is a topic you would like a worksheet on, email to snapideas@snapsurveys.com