What are quotas and how do I set them on Every?

Quotas are useful sometimes, but what are they and when should you use them when conducting research?

Want to skip to just the section you need? Check out the article sections below!

1. What are quotas?
2. Why would I set a quota in my survey?
3. How to set demographic quotas on Every?
4. What is an in question quota?
5. How to set in question quotas on Every?
6. What is an advanced quota?
7. How to set advanced quotas on Every?
8. What do I need to be careful of when using quotas?
9. How much do we charge per quota?

What are quotas?

Quotas are a type of criteria you can set in your survey, where you set an expected number of responses from particular target audiences. The three types of quotas you can set on Every are:

1. Demographic quotas
2. In question quotas
3. Advanced quotas

Why would I set a quota in my survey?

Depending on your research objectives, you may need to set quotas for various reasons. 

The most common use of quotas is when you decide that the respondents you collect should on the whole be representative of the age, gender, ethnic and regional split in a particular country. This is known as demographic quotas and  helps to ensure that the responses provided would represent the sentiment of the country you have surveyed.

Does this mean your sample always needs to be nationally representative in terms of age, gender, ethnicity and region? Not always.

If you were looking for a specific audience, for example car owners, it would not make sense to have a certain percentage of them be below the legal driving age. That would make the age group quotas unnecessary, as car owners are likely to be older individuals who can afford to purchase and/or maintain ownership of a car.

How to set demographic quotas on Every?

If you would like to set quotas for age, race, gender, state or region, please follow these steps!

1. When you arrive at the configure targeting page, you can see toggle buttons that can be used to distribute quota for gender, race, age and region shown in the purple boxes below
   
2. Once toggled, you would be able to put in the specific percentages for each demographic. Just ensure the total for each demographic equates to 100%.  For example:
   1. If you would like a 50/50 male and female audience, you can change the percentages to Male: 50% and Female: 50%.
   2. If you are only targeting Chinese and Malay respondents. You can change the percentages to Chinese: 50% and Malay: 50% while leaving the other races (Indian / others, Non-Malay Bumiputera) at zero.
   3. You can also specify what age ranges you are looking for in the Age demographic. If you would like additional age ranges, click on the “Add Age Range” button.
3. In addition to specifying the exact percentages for each demographic, you can also select or remove a specific state and customise the quota distribution for that region.

What is an in question quota?

In question quotas are also useful when you’d like to ensure that you would get an adequate number of respondents who select a certain answer option. This can be done by: 

1. 1. A minimum number of respondents who select an answer option
   2. A maximum number of respondents who select an answer option
   3. An exact number of respondents who select an answer option

For example, if you were to ask “Which of the following fruits have you consumed in the past week?”, and you wanted to ensure that you had a minimum of 50 people who selected “Apples”, this criteria would be referred to as an in question quota. You can also set quotas for making sure a maximum of 50 people have selected “Apples”, or exactly 50 people have selected “Apples”. 

Another example would be, you know that Brand A is a very popular brand in Malaysia that’s being used by 60% to 70% of the population, but you are from Brand B, that’s being used by 10% to 15% of the population. Let’s say that you as a researcher for Brand B would like to ask some probing questions to Brand B users about why they use your brand, because their responses will help you to determine your ad campaign focus for the next year. 

You can set a quota requirement that says you would like a minimum of 20% of your respondents to select Brand B in your survey, so that you would have a large enough sample of Brand B users to ask probing questions to. 

Alternatively, if your research objective was to analyse the users of competitors aside from Brand A, you could set a quota requirement that says you would like a maximum of 50% of your respondents to select Brand A in your survey, so that the remaining 50% of respondents would be respondents who selected a brand aside from Brand A. 

How to set in question quotas on Every?

If you’d like to set quotas based on an answer option in one of your questions, use the steps shown below:

1. Insert your question and answer options into the survey builder, then select “Add Quota” in the question settings (shown in a red box below).
   
2. After you select “Add Quota”, this tab will appear. Here is where you will be able to set the specific amount of samples you require per answer option.
   Using the same example as before, if you have a total sample size of 400 respondents, setting a 20% minimum quota for Brand B means that you’re looking for a minimum of 80 respondents selecting Brand B. 
   1. Check Brand B as the option you’d like to set a quota for:
      
   2. From the dropdown, select “At Least” as this is the minimum quota option (with “Exactly” being the quota option looking for a fixed number of responses and “At Most” being the quota option looking for a maximum number of responses).
      
   3. Insert the minimum number of responses you’re looking for. In this example, it would be 80.
      
   4. Click “Save”, shown in a red box below.
      
   5. You can add on quotas for other questions and answer options the same way.
3. If you would like to remove all quotas from a question, click on “Remove Quotas”, shown in a red box below.
   

What is an advanced quota?

Advanced quota can be incredibly useful when you need to target a specific group of the population based on detailed demographic, behavioural or psychographic characteristics. This approach ensures that the sample you are collecting is highly representative of a very particular segment of interest. 

Building on the previous examples, advanced quotas can effectively combine both demographic and in-question quotas, enabling you to target a specific group of users for a particular brand. While Brand A is a popular choice in Malaysia, you're focused on gaining insights into Brand B. To achieve this, you plan to conduct market research targeting young consumers (aged 18-24) who use Brand B. Since this group represents your primary consumer base, it's crucial that your sample accurately reflects this subgroup. In this case, you'll set an advanced quota to ensure you gather a minimum of 80 respondents who meet these criteria.

How to set advanced quotas on Every?

If you’d like to set advanced quotas, please use the steps shown below:

1. At the Configure Survey stage, you will find the option to set Advanced Quotas at the bottom of the page by clicking the 'Add Advanced Quota' button in the purple box.
   
2. After the “Add Advanced Quota” is selected, a window will pop up to allow you to set the specific amount of respondents you require.
3. Firstly, select the question that will determine the behaviours of your target audience. In this case, it is Q12 based on the brand they are currently using, which is Brand B.
   
   
4. Next, click the green “+” icon to add the other quotas such as age and gender. If you would like to remove a quota, you can select the red “-” icon.
   
5. Finally, in this example, we are looking for a minimum of 80 respondents that fit this criteria. From the “Set Quota” dropdown, select “At Least” as this is the minimum quota option (with “Exactly” being the quota option looking for a fixed number of responses and “At Most” being the quota option looking for a maximum number of responses). 
   
6. Click “Save” in the purple box once the quotas are set.
   
7. Once set, the advanced quota should look something like this.
   

Please note that setting up advanced quotas can increase the complexity of fieldwork, especially when targeting more specific or detailed audience segments. As such, pricing for this service will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Once your survey is submitted for review, our team will assess the feasibility of reaching your desired target audience and will reach out with further details.

What do I need to be careful of when using quotas?

Keep in mind that setting quotas can introduce a bias to your data. 

Let’s use the same example above, where you are from Brand B (which has a user base of about 10% to 15% of the population) and Brand A has a user base of 60% to 70% of the population. You have now inserted a quota into your survey looking for a minimum of 20% of respondents to select Brand B as a brand that they currently use, so that you can ask them probing questions about why they use Brand B.

You cannot now claim that Brand B has a user base of 20% of the population. This is because you have controlled the respondents in such a way that it is ensured that you have 20% saying they use Brand B, but this 20% is not representative of reality; it has been manufactured! 

When using data from any question where a quota has been set, make a note when presenting the data that the numbers from certain answer options have been controlled, and the data as a result will likely not be representative of actual consumer sentiment! 

You should also be mindful to use quotas sparingly! Introducing too many quotas into your survey can make collecting responses more difficult, as with each quota you set, you are making the target audience you’re looking for more and more niche and difficult to find. Not to mention you will need more disclaimers on how the data you’ve collected is not representative of actual consumer sentiment!

How much do we charge per quota?

You can refer to this article to see how quotas are priced, along with the rest of your survey! 

If you need additional information regarding quotas, you can always reach out to us via the chatbot below!