Quotas

The group limit defines the maximum number of respondents that can be assigned to a group. Limits can be set as exact counts or percentages — switch between these in the quota settings. Setting a group limit is optional; turn it off if you only need to categorize respondents without managing caps.

Over-sampling

Respondents qualify for a group when they reach the quota, but are only counted toward the limit once they complete the survey. This means over-sampling can occur. For example, if one spot remains in a group and ten respondents qualify simultaneously, all ten may be assigned — resulting in a final count higher than the limit.

Conditions define whether a respondent qualifies for a group. Quota groups are evaluated in order based on the selected fill method, so both order and specificity matter.

Add additional conditions using + Add condition, joined by And or Or. And conditions are evaluated before Or conditions, similar to how multiplication takes precedence over addition. For example:

Evaluates as:

For a full walkthrough of condition building, see the Skip logic article.

Each group records one of the following qualification values:

• 1 (Qualified): The respondent met the group's conditions.
• 0 (Unqualified): The respondent did not meet the group's conditions.
• -1 (Over quota): The respondent met the group's conditions but the group was full.
• Blank: The respondent did not encounter the quota.

For single-group assignments, one column is recorded:

• Group value or label: The group the respondent was assigned to.
• -1 (Over quota): The respondent qualified but the group was full.
• 0 (Unassigned): The respondent did not meet any group's conditions.
• Blank: The respondent did not encounter the quota.

For multiple-group assignments, a column per group:

• 1 (Assigned): The respondent qualified and was placed in the group.
• 0 (Unassigned): The respondent did not meet the group's conditions.
• Blank: The respondent did not encounter the quota.

A survey includes a soda question followed by a quota with three groups: 1. Pepsi, 2. Coke, 3. Sprite. Single assignment, sequential fill.

• Respondent 1 drank all three brands and qualified for all three groups. Pepsi was full, so they were assigned to Coke (value 2) — the next available group in sequential order.
• Respondent 2 didn't drink any of the three brands, so they didn't qualify for any group and were marked as unassigned (value 0).
• Respondent 3 drank Pepsi and Dr. Pepper and qualified for both groups, but both were full — marked as over quota (value -1).

• Single assignment: N is the total number of respondents assigned to a group.
• Multiple assignment: N is the total number of respondents who encountered the quota, including those not assigned.

Note that multiple-group assignment quotas produce non-exclusive categorical data, which can create challenges in crosstabs. See the Crosstabs article for more.