FAQ
Questions about CASCOT software
- Adding or modifying occupations
- Automatic coding
- Coding per hour
- Licensing
- Number of records
- Output files
- Socio-economic classification
- System requirements
Is it possible to add additional occupations to the software?
If you are using the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) index it is not possible to add occupations.
We sell CASCOT software with an editor package that allows you to modify the standard classifications or to introduce your own.
Can you tell me what percentage of occupations will it be able to code automatically?
You can set the automation threshold in CASCOT. If you set the threshold to e.g. 56 it means that if the score is 56-100, CASCOT will code the item automatically and if the score is 0-55 it will stop and expect the user to code manually. You can code everything automatically (resulting in lower accuracy), and code everything manually which takes more time but usually results in better accuracy.
According to tests that have been made the optimal automation level is around 64. Please bear in mind that the automatically created codes are not always correct and will need checking if you want to have a better result.
Approximately how many occupations can be manually coded per hour?
We use 100 occupations/hour as a guideline for an experienced user. It varies a lot though depending on the material you are coding. It is slow to code "difficult" occupational titles like Change Manager, New Business Coordinator or Knowledge Transfer Manager or ambiguous ones like Project Manager or Senior Supervisor where you would need more information about the occupation. "Easier" occupational titles like Primary School Teacher, Carpenter, Hotel Manager or Nurse (especially the occupations that are included in the SOC index) are much faster to do.
We licence CASCOT on an organisational and site basis. In other words, once an organisation has purchased a copy, it is free to make multiple copies as long as use is restricted to employees of that organisation. For example, a university may buy a copy, and different research groups who are employees of that university may then use the software - but students may not, given that they are not employees. If an organisation is located at different sites each site requires a licence. We monitor requests for technical help to ensure that the person requesting help is an employee at a licensed organisation.
There is no limit to the number of records that can be processed in one session. If set to code without intervention, the speed of coding depends upon the processor power you have and the hard disk read/write speed. A single processor running at (say) 1.6 with a typical disk setup will process 10,000 cases in about 30 minutes. Much faster speeds can be obtained with shorter text and faster or multiple processors.
What form is the output file with all the coding in it and how can I open it?
By default, the output file from CASCOT is a simple TAB-delimited text file (ASCII file) which can be opened with Windows Notepad or WordPad. If you do not enter a file extension when you open a new output file in CASCOT, Windows does not recognise the file type later and cannot derive with which application it should be opened. It is useful to define the output file as something like 'outputfile.txt' where the .txt extension will tell Windows it is a text file.
You can open the output file for example with Excel or SPSS as follows.
In Excel:
- select File>Open
- select Files of type 'All files' or 'Text files'
- select the output file from the file list, click Open
- select Original data type 'Delimited', click Next
- select 'Tab' as Delimiter, click Next
- click Finish
In SPSS:
- select File>Open>Data
- select Files of type 'Text (*.txt)'
- select the output file from the file list, click Open
- in Text Import Wizard Step 1 select 'No' to Does your text file match...
- in Step 2 select 'Delimited', the answer to the second question depends on whether you chose to have titles on the first row of the output file in CASCOT
- in Step 3 click Next
- in Step 4 select only 'Tab' as Delimiter
- in Step 5 you might need to change the Data format for any string fields
- in Step 6 click Finish
Please note that you can change the delimiter of the output file in CASCOT in Options>Output>Fields separated by, which will affect how the file should be opened in Excel or SPSS.
Is there a lookup file of SOC 2020 classification occupation codes to a measure of social class or socio-economic classification?
The ONS website has a lookup table which shows how to derive the NS-SEC from SOC2020 4-digit codes. Besides SOC2020 codes, the additional information needed for this purpose is establishment size and status in employment. If such additional information is not available, the website also has details of how a lower quality version of the NS-SEC can be produced.
Any version of Windows from Windows 98 onwards will be OK. Cascot is also available for other operating systems. The faster the processor, the better. When running in fully automatic mode you can expect to process about 100,000 job titles per hour.
