The Questionnaire Programming Language [QPL]: An Overview with Examples of Call Management

Abstract

The Questionnaire Programming Language (QPL) software provides a relatively easy, quick, and reliable way to automate surveys. QPL was produced by Kevin Dooley and associates at the U.S. General Accounting Office and is a public-domain program. QPL is useful for conducting small- to large-scale computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) and self-admimstered questionnaire surveys. It also is useful for data entry and automated production of SPSS or SAS data definition files. In this article the QPL system is described with some example of how it has been used. These examples include a survey conducted in an instructional context. Particular emphasis is given to how to implement call management with "control" files of telephone numbers. Keywords. QPL, CATI, computer-assisted telephone interviewing, data entry.