SAS PER CATI

Torino

Who we are• Since 1986 we are working on the social

and economic research field with mainfocus on marketing analysis and CRM

• We are expert in building statistical,simulation and forecasting models in theinsurance field and in the social anddemographic field

• We have a CATI structure for surveys

Our clients in 1999• Reale Mutua Assicurazioni• Fiat Sepin, Fiat Isvor• CSELT• Università di Torino• Fondazione G. Agnelli• Regione Piemonte (IRES)• Provincia di Torino• Comune di Torino• Csi Piemonte

To do interviews by phone andcomputer it’s necessary to:

• read the questions and record the answers,controlling the flow of the questionnaire;

• manage the agenda and control theinterview skedule;

• do some statistical report.

The questions may be:

• OPEN ENDED:Text-Entry.

• CLOSED:– Polithomous

Radio-Box

– DichotomousCkeck-Box

Text-Entry, the open-endedquestion object

The polithomous questions andthe Radio-Box

Dichotomousquestions: Check-Box

Radio-Box, Text-Entry andCheck-Box:an example

How to manage the questionnaireflow?

V10A:V10A:V10A:V10A: CALL NOTIFY ('V10A','_GET_VALUE_',V10A); CALL NOTIFY ('V10A','_GET_VALUE_',V10A); CALL NOTIFY ('V10A','_GET_VALUE_',V10A); CALL NOTIFY ('V10A','_GET_VALUE_',V10A); IF V10A=1 THEN DO;IF V10A=1 THEN DO;IF V10A=1 THEN DO;IF V10A=1 THEN DO; LINK SCRIVI;LINK SCRIVI;LINK SCRIVI;LINK SCRIVI; CALL GOTO ('SURVEY.PANEL.PAG3B.FRAME');CALL GOTO ('SURVEY.PANEL.PAG3B.FRAME');CALL GOTO ('SURVEY.PANEL.PAG3B.FRAME');CALL GOTO ('SURVEY.PANEL.PAG3B.FRAME'); END;END;END;END; CALL NOTIFY ('V10A','_GET_VALUE_', R); CALL NOTIFY ('V10A','_GET_VALUE_', R); CALL NOTIFY ('V10A','_GET_VALUE_', R); CALL NOTIFY ('V10A','_GET_VALUE_', R); IF R=8 THEN DO; IF R=8 THEN DO; IF R=8 THEN DO; IF R=8 THEN DO; CALL NOTIFY ('OBJ1','_UNHIDE_');CALL NOTIFY ('OBJ1','_UNHIDE_');CALL NOTIFY ('OBJ1','_UNHIDE_');CALL NOTIFY ('OBJ1','_UNHIDE_'); CALL NOTIFY ('V10B','_UNHIDE_'); CALL NOTIFY ('V10B','_UNHIDE_'); CALL NOTIFY ('V10B','_UNHIDE_'); CALL NOTIFY ('V10B','_UNHIDE_'); END; END; END; END;RETURN;RETURN;RETURN;RETURN;

V10B:V10B:V10B:V10B: CALL NOTIFY ('V10B','_GET_VALUE_',V10B); CALL NOTIFY ('V10B','_GET_VALUE_',V10B); CALL NOTIFY ('V10B','_GET_VALUE_',V10B); CALL NOTIFY ('V10B','_GET_VALUE_',V10B);

RETURN;RETURN;RETURN;RETURN;

_Hide_ and _Unhide_...

The call exit status codes

“Would you like to establish a datefor an appointment?”

“I’m calling you following theappointment…”

The call exit status codes table

I(CODICE INTERVISTATORE) T(ESITO TELEFONATA) I(CODICE INTERVISTATORE) T(ESITO TELEFONATA) I(CODICE INTERVISTATORE) T(ESITO TELEFONATA) I(CODICE INTERVISTATORE) T(ESITO TELEFONATA)

Frequenza‚ACCETTA ‚RIFIUTA ‚RICHIEDE‚NON REPE‚INTERROT‚ Totale Frequenza‚ACCETTA ‚RIFIUTA ‚RICHIEDE‚NON REPE‚INTERROT‚ Totale Frequenza‚ACCETTA ‚RIFIUTA ‚RICHIEDE‚NON REPE‚INTERROT‚ Totale Frequenza‚ACCETTA ‚RIFIUTA ‚RICHIEDE‚NON REPE‚INTERROT‚ Totale ‚ ‚ ‚ APPUNTA‚RIBILE ‚TA ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ APPUNTA‚RIBILE ‚TA ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ APPUNTA‚RIBILE ‚TA ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ APPUNTA‚RIBILE ‚TA ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚MENTO ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚MENTO ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚MENTO ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚MENTO ‚ ‚ ‚ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ VEGA ‚ 1 ‚ 2 ‚ 3 ‚ 4 ‚ 5 ‚ 15 VEGA ‚ 1 ‚ 2 ‚ 3 ‚ 4 ‚ 5 ‚ 15 VEGA ‚ 1 ‚ 2 ‚ 3 ‚ 4 ‚ 5 ‚ 15 VEGA ‚ 1 ‚ 2 ‚ 3 ‚ 4 ‚ 5 ‚ 15 ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ PINO ‚ 2 ‚ 4 ‚ 6 ‚ 8 ‚ 10 ‚ 30 PINO ‚ 2 ‚ 4 ‚ 6 ‚ 8 ‚ 10 ‚ 30 PINO ‚ 2 ‚ 4 ‚ 6 ‚ 8 ‚ 10 ‚ 30 PINO ‚ 2 ‚ 4 ‚ 6 ‚ 8 ‚ 10 ‚ 30 ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ MIKI ‚ 3 ‚ 6 ‚ 9 ‚ 12 ‚ 15 ‚ 45 MIKI ‚ 3 ‚ 6 ‚ 9 ‚ 12 ‚ 15 ‚ 45 MIKI ‚ 3 ‚ 6 ‚ 9 ‚ 12 ‚ 15 ‚ 45 MIKI ‚ 3 ‚ 6 ‚ 9 ‚ 12 ‚ 15 ‚ 45 ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ CILI ‚ 4 ‚ 8 ‚ 12 ‚ 16 ‚ 20 ‚ 60 CILI ‚ 4 ‚ 8 ‚ 12 ‚ 16 ‚ 20 ‚ 60 CILI ‚ 4 ‚ 8 ‚ 12 ‚ 16 ‚ 20 ‚ 60 CILI ‚ 4 ‚ 8 ‚ 12 ‚ 16 ‚ 20 ‚ 60 ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒˆ Totale 10 20 30 40 50 150 Totale 10 20 30 40 50 150 Totale 10 20 30 40 50 150 Totale 10 20 30 40 50 150

Calling costs: average byinterviewer

------------------------------------------------------------------ | | NUMERO | | | | |TELEFONATE| SCATTI | COSTO | |-------------------------------+----------+----------+----------| |CODICE INTERVISTATORE | | | | |-------------------------------| | | | |VEGA | 2| 8| 1600| |-------------------------------+----------+----------+----------| |PINO | 4| 16| 3200| |-------------------------------+----------+----------+----------| |MIKI | 6| 24| 4800| |-------------------------------+----------+----------+----------| |CILI | 8| 32| 6400| |-------------------------------+----------+----------+----------| |TOTALE | 20| 80| 16000| ------------------------------------------------------------------

Come preferisce utilizzare il tempo libero ?

SESSO

-------------------- BASE: TOTALE Uomo Donna TOTALE CAMPIONE

Conferenze 53 45 8 4.0 5.6

Incontri Letterari 28 22 6 2.0 4.2

Biblioteca 42 32 10 2.9 7.0

Corsi Lingue 35 26 9 2.3 6.3

Visite Musei 134 113 21 10.1 14.8

Corsi arte 38 31 7 2.8 4.9

Viaggi 239 208 31 18.6 21.8

Feste 90 82 8 7.3 5.6

Spettacoli 73 61 12 5.5 8.5

Giochi societa 41 38 3 3.4 2.1 Att.Sportive 123 115 8 10.3 5.6

Altro 6 5 1 0.4 0.7

TOTALE 902 778 124 69.5 87.3

BASE PERCENTUALE 1261 1119 142

Multiple response table:compilation and report

There is a macro for buiding themultiple response table...

!"#$%&'()*+,-.*,.*/0"1,.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*$234205.*"(''()6.*78%&%*/0"19:;,;.*<=&(=>(5(*/(2050))=.303=5%*2="$(0)%.*/0",,.*/0",,.*/0",9.*/0",-.*/0",?.*/0",@.*/0",A./0",B.*/0",C.*/0",D.*/0"91.*/0"9,./0"99./0"9-...*.....*.....*....EF

IDENTIFICATIVOPARAMETRO

DESCRIZIONE VALORE DELL’ESEMPIO

P1 n. complessivo variabilidicotomiche

13

P2 n. complessivo variabilipolitomiche

1

P3 variabile indipendente DOM01P4, P5, P6, P7, P8, P9, P10,P11

altre variabili politomiche

P12 tipo di percentuale dicolonna

PCT_COL

P13 calcolo missing MISSINGP14 selezione casi WHERE DOM02='1'P15 etichetta variabili colonna VARIABILI DI COLONNAP16 etichetta variabili di riga TOTALE CAMPIONEP17 prima variabile dicotomica DOM11P18, P19, P20, P21, P22… Variabili dicotomiche da

inserire nella tabellaDOM11, DOM12, DOM13,DOM14, DOM15…

The frame for multiple responsetables request

Torino

SAS™ for Computer AidedTelephone Interview (CATI)

Gianluca BOMETIS sas

Foreword

This paper presents a SAS™ tool for CATI interviewmanagement, which is an extension of S.P.E.S,Sistema di Produzione degli Elaborati Statistici,presented by METIS at Sugitalia ’94 (see Sugitalia’94 Proceedings).Generally speaking we intend CATI as a softwareinstrument to interview persons by phone. We willshow in some details a SAS™ tool performing suchwork. First of all let us summarise the principal tasks.We need to:- Write the questions in such a way that they can be

displayed on the screen- Read the questions of the survey and save the

answers- Control the flow among the questions- Manage the agenda in order to get the telephon

numbers, save the call results, registerappointments, and so on

- Summarise elementary management statistics bythe complete, interrupted or refused calls count

- Do some accounting tasks (costs of calls)

We know that many software systems existperforming well in all the listed tasks and in similarothers. All the tasks related to the management of callcentres are on the field of these applications. In thispaper we demonstrate that SAS™ system may offeruseful solutions in some of the listed tasks and someadvantages in terms of software integration and costs.

Among others the article “Turning the call centerinto a profit center”1 underlines this need. In fact,while presenting the uses of SAS™ in this field, it’simportant to stress the opportunity to obtain in realtime the data for the interview management(accounting and others), beyond the “natural”integration with statistical procedures for analysis andreporting.

In section 1 we illustrate the way of building screenby which the interviewers read the questions ofsurveys and save the answers; furthermore the flowcontrol among the questions is explained. Section 2 1 Turning the call centter into a profit center.SAS Communications 3Q 1998 Volume XXV

describes the telephone numbers agenda and theaccounting mode of collected interviews. Section 3analyses the report production and the construction ofdichotomous multiple responses tables .During 1999 in METIS have been conducted 10.000interviews using this method.

1. Designing screens and flow of a questionnaire.

A questionnaire is carried out in such a way thatinterviewers may read on the screen the questions andrecord the answers given to that questions by theinterviewed person. This operation is done writing thequestion text with particular attention to the questiontypeIt is well known that surveys may consist of open-ended and codified questions, which in turn may bepolithomous (with more than two mutually exclusiveanswers) and dichotomous (just like a yes/noquestion) (Tab.2).For coding the open-ended questions (quantitativequestions are a particular case of such questions) weuse, among the SAS/AF™ tools, Text-Entry objects(Tab.3). They permit the direct input of answer text ornumbers by the interviewer during the interview.The closed questions are coded with radio-boxes(Tab.4) if polithomous; with check-boxes (Tab.5) ifdichotomous (radio and check boxes are stillSAS/AF™ objects). Each object is coded with a namepointing to a variable name in a SAS™ data set.

Radio-Boxes, Check-Boxes and Text-Entries may beon the same screen at the same time (Tab.6).The flow is controlled by some Screen ControlLanguage instruction, existing behind each frame.Generally, these instructions are limited to a properuse of a CALL DISPLAY pointing to a proper frame,depending on the survey peculiarities . We may go tothe next or previous screen or to another one too, justas the actual flow suggests. In this way it is possibleto manage “filters” that give access a particular set ofquestions.We experienced two methods to do this. One methodlet us to jump to a proper screen, while the other hideor unhide a portion of the screen. Depending on thechoice on a previous question (_HIDE_ and_UNHIDE_ methods) (Tab.7a/7b).

2. The agenda management and the interviewsaccount.

As we stated above a call may terminate with differentexit status:- A call originates a complete interview;- A call originates a refuse;- A call originates an interrupted interview;- A call originates an appointment;- A call originates an unresolved link (wrongnumber, busy number, non existent number, fax oranswer machine number,…).The agenda let us to i) obtain a previously recordedphone number from a file which is part of the system(coming from a simple list of numbers or from asample, extracted using the other facilities of SAS™system), and ii) record the exit status of the call andthe date/time of an appointment, if the case.To satisfy these needs we have a preliminary screenwhich contains an interviewer and a client (computer)code followed by a button asking for a phone numberand a call exit code (Tab.8).Once the communication is established the systemshows a Radio-Box by which the interviewer may setthe exit status of the call:- Interview accepted;- Interview not accepted;- Appointment (Tab.9);- Other exit codes of the link (busy number, faxnumber,…).These data are collected in such a way that the usednumbers cannot be reused, unless in the case of anexit status of non response. Depending on this returncode the used number may be reactivated severaltimes. The numbers which return code is anappointment will be automatically extracted at theright time (Tab.10).Once the called person accept the interview, theinterviewer may continue to ask questions. At the endof the questionnaire, on the last screen, which has theform of a Radio-Box, the. interviewer will confirm thenormal or abnormal (interrupted) end of interview.The accounting methods include frequency reports bycall exit status and by interviewer, the average timeused for each call (Tab.11).

3. Statistical reports and multiple responsetables

As an interesting aspect of statistical analysis weremember here that we are able to produce, inside ofthe system in a very friendly way, just by clicks,

multiple dichotomous response tables. It is known thatthis capability in SAS™ does not exist in anintegrated and useful form (version 6.12). To buildmultiple responses it is common practice to use a setof dichotomous questions. To generate a single tablefrom these questions we are faced to particularproblems. The problems arise when we want topresent the only significant numbers, omitting theredundant information. That is omitting the countsimplied by the degrees of freedom: if we have asample of 100 objects, among them 50 have one oftwo characteristics, it’s obvious that the remaining 50have the other one. In other words a frequency tablewhich reports the complete distribution of a variableis redundant. In a multiple response table we eliminatethis redundancy. As we will see, the problem onlyconsists in the form of the presentation report.In the bivariate case, the multiple response tablescount only one conjunction of values reported in acontingency table with one degree of freedom, whilethe others are omitted. Other significant combinationsof values of other contingency tables are insertedinstead.In this way the data to be analysed are reduced in alinear way by a coefficient of ¼: one value of onemultiple response table stays for 4 values, two valuesstay for 8, 3 values stay for 12, 4 for 16, and so on.Generally speaking the numbers of values in amultiple response table, will be equal to the number ofcontingency tables with one degree of freedomcalculated.. As an example, if we think to a multipleresponse table with 10 rows and 20 columns we havereally to do with 200 contingency tables.. In this sensethe multiple response table contains only the essentialinformation.In practice the user select via List-Box the variablesthat have to be inserted in the multiple response table,with some options if the case, and the system does theremaining work. (Tab.12/13) .

Platform

From the point of view of the hardware platform thesystem has obviously the same advantages of SAS™:portability among platforms, scalability amongplatforms of different power. The typical platform isclient-server, but may be local area network withoutlost. Actually we are planning to transfer the softwarein SAS V8, where the work will continue..

Tab.1 CATI needs

Tab.2 Questions type

Tab.3 Use of Text-Entriese

Tab.4 Use of Radio-Box

Tab.5 Use of Check-box

Tab.6 Radio-Box, Check-Box, Text-Entry on the same frame

Tab.7a The questionnaire flow

Tab.7b The questionnaire flow

Tab.8 The agenda management

Tab.9 The appointment request

Tab.10 The appointment extraction

Tab. 11 The call exit status codes table

Tab.12 The multiple response table request

Tab.13 Multiple response table report

SAS™ for Computer AidedTelephone Interview (CATI)

Gianluca BOMETIS sas

Foreword

This paper presents a SAS™ tool for CATI interviewmanagement, which is an extension of S.P.E.S,Sistema di Produzione degli Elaborati Statistici,presented by METIS at Sugitalia ’94 (see Sugitalia’94 Proceedings).Generally speaking we intend CATI as a softwareinstrument to interview people by phone. We willshow in some detail a SAS™ tool performing suchwork. First of all let us summarise the principal tasks.We need to:- Write the questions in such a way that they can be

displayed on the screen- Read the questions of the survey and save the

answers- Control the flow among the questions- Manage the agenda in order to get the telephon

numbers, save the call results, registerappointments, and so on

- Summarise elementary management statistics bythe complete, interrupted or refused calls count

- Do some accounting tasks (costs of calls)

We know that many software systems existperforming well in all the listed tasks and in otherssimilar. All the tasks related to the management of callcentres are on the field of these applications. In thispaper we demonstrate that SAS™ system may offeruseful solutions in some of the listed tasks and someadvantages in terms of software integration and costs.

Among others the article “Turning the call centerinto a profit center”1 underlines this need. In fact,while presenting the uses of SAS™ in this field, it’simportant to stress the opportunity to obtain in realtime the data for the interview management(accounting and others), beyond the “natural”integration with statistical procedures for analysis andreporting.

In section 1 we illustrate the way of building screenby which the interviewers read the questions ofsurveys and save the answers; furthermore the flowcontrol among the questions is explained. Section 2 1 Turning the call centter into a profit center.SAS Communications 3Q 1998 Volume XXV

describes the telephone numbers agenda and theaccounting mode of collected interviews. Section 3analyses the report production and the construction ofdichotomous multiple responses tables .During 1999 in METIS have been conducted 10.000interviews using this method.

1. Designing screens and flow of a questionnaire.

A questionnaire is carried out in such a way thatinterviewers may read on the screen the questions andrecord the answers given to those questions by theinterviewee. This operation is done writing thequestion text with particular attention to the questiontypeIt is well known that surveys may consist of open-ended and codified questions, which in turn may bepolithomous (with more than two mutually exclusiveanswers) and dichotomous (just like a yes/noquestion) (Slide2).For coding the open-ended questions (quantitativequestions are a particular case of such questions) weuse, among the SAS/AF™ tools, Text-Entry objects(Slide3). They permit the direct input of answer textor numbers by the interviewer during the interview.The closed questions are coded with radio-boxes(Slide4) if polithomous; with check-boxes (Slide5) ifdichotomous (radio and check boxes are stillSAS/AF™ objects). Each object is coded with a namepointing to a variable name in a SAS™ data set.

Radio-Boxes, Check-Boxes and Text-Entries may beon the same screen at the same time (Slide6).The flow is controlled by some Screen ControlLanguage instruction, existing behind each frame.Generally, these instructions are limited to a properuse of a CALL DISPLAY pointing to a proper frame,depending on the survey peculiarities . We may go tothe next or previous screen or to another one too, justas the actual flow suggests. In this way it is possibleto manage “filters” that give access a particular set ofquestions.We experienced two methods of doing this. Onemethod lets us to jump to a proper screen, while theother hides or unhides a portion of the screen.Depending on the choice on a previous question(_HIDE_ and _UNHIDE_ methods) (Slide7a/7b).

2. The agenda management and the interviewsaccount.

As we stated before a call may terminate withdifferent exit status:- A call results in a complete interview;- A call results in a refuse;- A call results in an interrupted interview;- A call results in an appointment;- A call results in an unresolved link (wrongnumber, busy number, non existent number, fax oranswer machine number,…).The agenda lets us i) obtain a previously recordedphone number from a file which is part of the system(coming from a simple list of numbers or from asample, extracted using the other facilities of SAS™system), and ii) record the exit status of the call andthe date/time of an appointment, if the case.To satisfy these needs we have a preliminary screenwhich contains an interviewer and a client (computer)code followed by a button asking for a phone numberand a call exit code (Slide8).Once the communication is established the systemshows a Radio-Box by which the interviewer may setthe exit status of the call:- Interview accepted;- Interview not accepted;- Appointment (Slide9);- Other exit codes of the link (busy number, faxnumber,…).These data are collected in such a way that the usednumbers cannot be reused, unless in the case of anexit status of non response. Depending on this returncode the used number may be reactivated severaltimes. The numbers which return code is anappointment will be automatically extracted at theright time (Slide10).Once the called person accept the interview, theinterviewer may continue to ask questions. At the endof the questionnaire, on the last screen, which has theform of a Radio-Box, the. interviewer will confirm thenormal or abnormal (interrupted) end of interview.The accounting methods include frequency reports bycall exit status and by interviewer, the average timeused for each call (Slide11).

3. Statistical reports and multiple responsetables

We remember that we are able to produce, inside ofthe system in a very friendly way, multipledichotomous response tables, just by clicking. It is

known that this capability in SAS™ does not exist inan integrated and useful form (version 6.12). To buildmultiple responses it is common practice to use a setof dichotomous questions. To generate a single tablefrom these questions we are faced with particularproblems. The problems arise when we want topresent the only significant numbers, omitting theredundant information. That is omitting the countsimplied by the degrees of freedom: if we have asample of 100 objects, among them 50 have one oftwo characteristics, it’s obvious that the remaining 50have the other one. In other words a frequency tablewhich reports the complete distribution of a variableis redundant. In a multiple response table we eliminatethis redundancy. As we will see, the problem onlyconsists in the form of the presentation report.In the bivariate case, the multiple response tablescount only one conjunction of values reported in acontingency table with one degree of freedom, whilethe others are omitted. Other significant combinationsof values of other contingency tables are insertedinstead.In this way the data to be analysed are reduced in alinear way by a coefficient of ¼: one value of onemultiple response table stands for 4 values, two valuesstands for 8, 3 values stands for 12, 4 for 16, and soon.Generally speaking the numbers of values in amultiple response table, will be equal to the number ofcontingency tables with one degree of freedomcalculated.. As an example, if we think about amultiple response table with 10 rows and 20 columnswe have really to deal with 200 contingency tables.. Inthis sense the multiple response table contains onlythe essential information.In practice the user select via List-Box the variablesthat have to be inserted in the multiple response table,with some options if the case, and the system does theremaining work. (Slide12/13) .

Platform

From the point of view of the hardware platform thesystem has obviously the same advantages of SAS™:portability among platforms, scalability amongplatforms of different power. The typical platform isclient-server, but may be local area network withoutloss. Actually we are planning to transfer the softwarein SAS V8, where the work will continue..

Slide1 CATI needs

Slide2 Questions type

Slide3 Use of Text-Entriese

Slide4 Use of Radio-Box

Slide5 Use of Check-box

Slide6 Radio-Box, Check-Box, Text-Entry on the same frame

Slide7a The questionnaire flow

Slide7b The questionnaire flow

Slide8 The agenda management

Slide9 The appointment request

Slide10 The appointment extraction

Slide 11 The call exit status codes table

Slide12 The multiple response table request

Slide13 Multiple response table report