If an interview gets interrupted, the computer will call the number back, and resume. Which interviewer speaks a foreign language. Which interviewer gets the most responses, or participants to an interview. Which interviewer might need assistance with interview refusals. Once the interviews are conducted, the computer will compile the datasets.
Interviews usually have two kinds of datasets.
The numerical sets can immediately be dumped into the SPSS, a system used to analyze statistical data. This was not always the case. The unit started with paper and pencils and 7 booths with which to conduct interviews. The room needed extensive work, just to make it ready for people to work in. Most of this work was done on a budget, and through the labor of the staff themselves.