Quotas are a systematic approach used in survey research to help monitor progress and ensure that the sample of respondents represents a diverse cross-section of the target population. By establishing specific quotas, researchers can set minimum or maximum limits on various criteria, such as age, gender, ethnicity, income level, and geographical location.

For example, if a survey aims to collect opinions on a new product, the researchers might decide that at least 30% of respondents should be women, 20% should belong to a minority group, and participants should cover different age ranges. This approach ensures that the survey results more accurately reflect the opinions and needs of the entire population, rather than just a small segment.

Quotas serve several key functions: they help prevent bias in the sampling process by ensuring that no single group dominates the responses, enabling a richer and more comprehensive understanding of the topic. Additionally, using quotas allows researchers to monitor progress and make adjustments if certain groups are underrepresented as data collection proceeds. Ultimately, this results in more reliable outcomes that can support better decision-making and strategies.

Create Quotas

Alchemer offers 3 types of quotas you can set up:

1. Overall Response Quotas: The Overall Response Quota is the total number of completed responses for the entire survey. If you want to limit the total responses for your survey, this is the type of quota you will want to use. Once that quota is met, your respondents will no longer be permitted to submit a response.
2. Logic Quotas: Allow you to collect a limited set of responses for people who match a specific set of logic.
3. Distributed Logic Quotas: Allow you to collect an even distribution of responses across a wide set of conditions

For more information, visit Alchemer's documentation on quotas here.

To create these quotas, please follow these directions:

1. Go in to your survey editor, click into the Tools menu, and select Quotas.

2. Click Create Quota.
3. In the Setup tab, fill in the Name and Limit fields.
4. Select the Logic that will increment this quota for each respondent

5. Click into the Complete Actions tab and select Continue collecting responses.
   • This setting may seem counterintuitive, but you will set your disqualifications/terminations based on quotas within the survey build tab.

6. Select your preferences regarding Quota Notifications. Email is the most common preference here.
7. Click Save Quota.
8. This is what your quota will look like once created:

Create Over Quota Redirect(s)

To disqualify or terminate respondents based on quotas you are tracking in the survey, add a “Redirect URL Action”.

To add this redirect, please follow these directions:

1. Add a new page where you wish to place the termination and redirect the respondent.
2. Click the Actions link to add a redirect link.
   
3. In the screen that pops up, locate the URL Redirect under the Survey Actions section.
   
4. Click the “Add” button. A new window will display with a few options.
   
5. Give the URL Redirect a unique Name.
6. Select "Yes" for Disqualify Respondent.
7. Locate the URL field and set the Protocol dropdown to HTTPS://.

8. Paste the following into the text field for Community surveys:

   https://util.fuelcyclecore.com/util/surveyGizmo/redirectProxy

   NOTE: UK and Canadian servers would require their own domain suffix — .uk or .ca — instead of .com

   • For External surveys - Panel sample: Paste the redirect URL here provided by the Panel provider.
   • For External surveys - Custom sample: Paste the redirect URL you wish to send your respondents to (e.g., your company website).
9. Determine if there will be a delay.
10. Set the Message to show to disqualified respondents. You are not required to edit the disqualified message in the field here. This will not typically display to the respondent, so you can leave it as is. The Disqualified message is determined in different areas:
    1. Screener surveys: The Disqualified message is set when building the Recruitment URL.
    2. Community Surveys: The Disqualified message is set when creating the activity and the respondent will see it when the route back into the community.
11. Scroll down to the bottom under “Field to Pass (optional)” and choose URL Variable from the drop-down.
    • Note: Steps 12-15 are only required for Community surveys. For External surveys, these values will vary depending on what you need to pass to the Panel provider.
12. Click the Add Field button.
13. Enter the following into the fields:
    • Under “URL Variable” put: redirect_url
    • Under “Variable Name” put: redirectUrl
14. Return to the dropdown and select “Static Value (use default)” and click the “Add Field” button THREE times (to add the option three times).

15. Enter the following into the 3 new fields:
    • First Static Value:
      • Under “Variable Name” put: qualified
      • Under “Default Value (opt)” put: false
    • Second Static Value:
      • Under “Variable Name” put: reason
      • Under “Default Value (opt)” put one of the following: OVER_QUOTA
    • Third Static Value:
      • Under “Variable Name” put: disqualifiedStep
      • Under “Default Value” enter whatever text you want here. This will be added to the database and you can use it to help you determine what question was used to disqualify users. Assign a value that is meaningful to you. Do not include brackets { } in this text or it will not save properly.

16. Click on the Logic tab and enter your logic conditions by using the prompts and options that display. Be sure to set both the Quota logic and the survey question logic.

    

17. Click the Save Action button.

18. This should be what the final result looks like in the survey build: