Reusing Sample Records from T-file That Were Already Completed

NIPO ODIN Version 5.17

Reusing Sample Records from T-file That Were Already Completed

In some cases it is required to reuse NIPO CATI sample records that have already been set to a definite response code. For example, in some cases fieldwork may decide to retry refusals because there is a considerable lack of sample, or because the questionnaire needs to be redone for a number of respondents.

Reusing sample records in a survey using a Sample table is a matter of reinitializing the sample records. The Fieldwork Manager can take care of this.

Reusing Interview Numbers in a survey using a T-file works slightly differently. You would expect it to be sufficient enough to set the response code to 0, but this is not the only place where the status of a record is kept. The D-file (a binary file containing the Suspend Images of the interview) also contains the response information. Any attempt to use a reinitialized sample record will result in an error "Record already completed in Suspend Image" at survey start. This happens for any record where the interview has progressed beyond the introduction screen.

In this section a number of approaches are presented to deal with this issue.