Terminating the interview
You can terminate an interview at any time by placing an Exit statement in the routing section of the script. If the project uses Sample Management, this causes the sample record to be returned to the Sample Management system for processing, as normally happens when an interview ends because the end of the script has been reached.
Ending an interview with Exit can be somewhat abrupt if you do not display an explanation of why the interview is being terminated. Here is an example that displays a brief closing message before terminating the interview when respondents do not satisfy the screening criteria. Respondents who pass the screening criteria continue with the main part of the interview. The metadata section defining the screening questions is as follows:
Intro "Hello, I'm calling from The Train Company. I wonder if you
can spare some time to answer a few questions about train
travel." info;
TerminateText "Thank you for your help, but your household does
not meet the requirements for this survey." info;
Callback "INTERVIEWER: Arrange an appointment to call back and speak to this person." info;
RailwayWorker "Do you work on the railways?
Is anyone in your immediate family associated with this field?"
categorical [1..1]
{
Yes, No
} NoCaseData;
UsesTrain "Do you travel regularly by train / may I speak with someone who regularly travels by train?" categorical [1..1]
{
RegularTraveler "Respondent travels regularly by train",
NoTrainTraveler "No one travels regularly by train",
TrainUserNA "Regular train traveler not available"
} NoCaseData;
LastTwoWeeks " Have you traveled by train during the last two weeks?"
categorical [1..1]
{
Yes, No
} NoCaseData;
JourneyReason "What was the main reason for your journey?"
categorical [1..1]
{Business, Pleasure};
The screening questions have been flagged with NoCaseData because the data is of no use to the survey.
The routing section that filters out unsuitable respondents is as follows:
IOM.Banners.Add("IntroBanner",Intro.Label)
RailwayWorker.Ask()
If (RailwayWorker = {Yes}) Then GoTo Terminate
UsesTrain.Ask()
If (UsesTrain = {TrainUserNA}) Then GoTo Callback
If (UsesTrain = {NoTrainTraveler}) Then GoTo Terminate
LastTwoWeeks.Ask()
If (LastTwoWeeks = {No}) Then GoTo Terminate
' Questions for train travellers
IOM.Banners.Remove("IntroBanner")
JourneyReason.Ask()
Exit
Callback:
IOM.Banners.Remove("IntroBanner")
Callback.Show()
Exit
Terminate:
IOM.Banners.Remove("IntroBanner")
TerminateText.Show()
Exit
This script deals with three types of respondent.
▪Those who work for the railway or who have close relatives that work for the railway are ineligible for the survey so their interview stops immediately.
▪If the household is suitable, the script guides the interviewer to finding a suitable respondent in the household. The implication is that if the first respondent is not a regular train traveler, the interviewer asks to speak to someone who is. After all possibilities have been exhausted, the interviewer enters an answer to UsesTrain.
If there is no one who travels by train, the interview stops. If there is a regular train traveler but this person is not available, the interviewer is asked to make an appointment. The interviewer selects the appropriate option from the call results menu. There is no need for the script to stop the interview because this happens automatically when the interviewer makes the appointment.
▪If the respondent travels regularly by train but has not done so in the last two weeks, the interview stops. After this, only people who travel regularly by train and who have done so in the two weeks are left to start the main part of the interview.
See also