The method includes obtaining a sample including a target nucleic acid, contacting the sample with a quantification primer, adding a quantity of blocking primer to the sample, and repeating the contacting and adding steps until the total quantity of blocking primer present in the sample meets or exceeds the amount of target present in the sample. Each repetition utilizes a quantification primer having a different unique identifying feature assigned to sequentially increasing quantification levels, and the quantity of blocking primer added at each repetition establishes numerical spacing between the quantification levels. The method further includes identifying the unique identifying feature present in any bound quantification primers that remain in the sample, where the presence of a unique identifying feature assigned to a particular quantification level indicates the approximate amount of the target present in the sample.