Are More Profiles Better Than Fewer?: Searching for Parsimony and Relevance in Stated Choice Experiments

2000 ◽  
Vol 1719 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter R. Stopher ◽  
David A. Hensher

Transportation planners increasingly include a stated choice (SC) experiment as part of the armory of empirical sources of information on how individuals respond to current and potential travel contexts. The accumulated experience with SC data has been heavily conditioned on analyst prejudices about the acceptable complexity of the data collection instrument, especially the number of profiles (or treatments) given to each sampled individual (and the number of attributes and alternatives to be processed). It is not uncommon for transport demand modelers to impose stringent limitations on the complexity of an SC experiment. A review of the marketing and transport literature suggests that little is known about the basis for rejecting complex designs or accepting simple designs. Although more complex designs provide the analyst with increasing degrees of freedom in the estimation of models, facilitating nonlinearity in main effects and independent two-way interactions, it is not clear what the overall behavioral gains are in increasing the number of treatments. A complex design is developed as the basis for a stated choice study, producing a fractional factorial of 32 rows. The fraction is then truncated by administering 4, 8, 16, 24, and 32 profiles to a sample of 166 individuals (producing 1, 016 treatments) in Australia and New Zealand faced with the decision to fly (or not to fly) between Australia and New Zealand by either Qantas or Ansett under alternative fare regimes. Statistical comparisons of elasticities (an appropriate behavioral basis for comparisons) suggest that the empirical gains within the context of a linear specification of the utility expression associated with each alternative in a discrete choice model may be quite marginal.

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 758
Author(s):  
Fiona Esam ◽  
Rachel Forrest ◽  
Natalie Waran

The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on human-pet interactions within New Zealand, particularly during lockdown, was investigated via two national surveys. In Survey 1, pet owners (n = 686) responded during the final week of the five-week Alert Level 4 lockdown (highest level of restrictions—April 2020), and survey 2 involved 498 respondents during July 2020 whilst at Alert Level 1 (lowest level of restrictions). During the lockdown, 54.7% of owners felt that their pets’ wellbeing was better than usual, while only 7.4% felt that it was worse. Most respondents (84.0%) could list at least one benefit of lockdown for their pets, and they noted pets were engaged with more play (61.7%) and exercise (49.7%) than pre-lockdown. Many respondents (40.3%) expressed that they were concerned about their pet’s wellbeing after lockdown, with pets missing company/attention and separation anxiety being major themes. In Survey 2, 27.9% of respondents reported that they continued to engage in increased rates of play with their pets after lockdown, however, the higher levels of pet exercise were not maintained. Just over one-third (35.9%) of owners took steps to prepare their pets to transition out of lockdown. The results indicate that pets may have enjoyed improved welfare during lockdown due to the possibility of increased human-pet interaction. The steps taken by owners to prepare animals for a return to normal life may enhance pet wellbeing long-term if maintained.


2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Sylcott ◽  
Jeremy J. Michalek ◽  
Jonathan Cagan

In conjoint analysis, interaction effects characterize how preference for the level of one product attribute is dependent on the level of another attribute. When interaction effects are negligible, a main effects fractional factorial experimental design can be used to reduce data requirements and survey cost. This is particularly important when the presence of many parameters or levels makes full factorial designs intractable. However, if interaction effects are relevant, main effects design can create biased estimates and lead to erroneous conclusions. This work investigates consumer preference interactions in the nontraditional context of visual choice-based conjoint analysis, where the conjoint attributes are parameters that define a product's shape. Although many conjoint studies assume interaction effects to be negligible, they may play a larger role for shape parameters. The role of interaction effects is explored in two visual conjoint case studies. The results suggest that interactions can be either negligible or dominant in visual conjoint, depending on consumer preferences. Generally, we suggest using randomized designs to avoid any bias resulting from the presence of interaction effects.


2004 ◽  
Vol 62 (2a) ◽  
pp. 206-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Roberto de Brito-Marques ◽  
José Eulálio Cabral-Filho

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that schooling can influence performance in cognitive assessement tests. In developing countries, formal education is limited for most people. The use of tests such as Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), could have an adverse effect on the evaluation of illiterate and low education individuals. OBJECTIVE: To propose a new version of MMSE as a screening test to assess Illiterate and low education people. METHOD: A study was carried out enrolling 232 individuals, aged 60 or more of low and middle socio-economic classes. Three groups were studied: Illiterate;1-4 schooling years; 5-8 schooling years. The new version (MMSEmo) consisted of modifications in copy and calculation items of the adapted MMSE (MMSEad) to Portuguese language. The maximum possible score was the same in the two versions: total, 30; copy, 1 and calculation, 5. RESULTS: In the total test score ANOVA detected main effects for education and test, as well as an interaction between these factors: higher schooling individuals performed better than lower schooling ones in both test versions; scores in MMSE-mo were higher than in MMSE-ad in every schooling group. CONCLUSION: Higher schooling levels improve the perfomance in both test versions, the copy and calculation items contributing to this improvement. This might depend on cultural factors. The use of MMSE-mo in illiterate and low school individuals could prevent false positive and false negative cognitive evaluations.


Author(s):  
Raewyn O'Neill

In their 1997 green paper on tertiary education the Ministry of Education said, "to ensure our prosperity New Zealand needs to be a 'learning society' recognising the importance for all of our people to continue to develop new skills and knowledge throughout a person’s lifetime." Given the importance of an educated and adaptable workforce, there is surprisingly little information available on education and training undertaken in New Zealand. While some information is collected on those enrolled in study towards formal education qualifications, there is little available information on human capital development beyond this. One of the few sources of information is the Education and Training Survey (ETS), conducted in September 1996. This paper uses information collected in the ETS to look at the characteristics of those participating in education and training as well as the barriers to and reasons for participation in education and training. lt then goes on to compare the labour market outcomes of those people who participated in education and training with those who did not.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Syahrul Syarifudin

There are companies that stand in Indonesia that are owned by foreigners. People tend to judge that the performance of foreign companies is better than domestic companies. This is due to the assumption that foreign companies have relatively larger capital, technology, and expertise that is better than domestic companies. Another presumption is that before, during, and after the crisis the performance of foreign-owned companies is better than domestic companies. In addition, to find out the good and bad performance of a company, it can use a stock capital ratio analysis. With this stock capital ratio, it can be seen the rate of return on equity, the ratio of earning per share, profit price, capitalization rate, and dividend income. So that the analysis can help investors and potential investors as sources of information support in investing in the company. The results of the data analysis using the T-test (Difference Test) found that there was no significant difference between the return on equity ratio, earnings per share ratio, the profit price ratio, the capitalization rate and dividend income. Thus the performance of domestic companies is significantly similar to the performance of foreign companies.Keywords: Earning per share, profit ratio, , capitalization ratio


Author(s):  
Josef Navrátil ◽  
Kamil Pícha

The aim of this paper is to assess the relation between the character of the interpretive trail and the imposition of a charge on the entrance. This was done using the discrete choice experiment that involves eight attributes, seven of which are with three levels: the overall character of the trail, the way that the route signs are used in the terrain, the ways of providing information, the length of the trail, the way of the routing, the focus of the trail, and the price of the entrance. There is also one with two levels that involves the existence of the places for rest. The fractional factorial design was used (the orthogonal main effects plan) and the Multinomial Logit Model was used in analyzing the data. The 2,830 choices were done by random sampled visitors from eight tourist locations in the Tourist Regions of the Šumava Mts. and South Bohemia during the summer season 2012. The impact of the character of the trail was especially detected in the model. Except for that, the equipment of the trail and its length have had the fundamental impact on the choice of the trail as well. Those longer and worse equipped trails have a significantly lower degree of utility for the respondents. What is quite surprising is that the respondents refused the ecotourism elements of the interpretive trails, such as the possibility of going through the trail on horseback or the accompaniment of an expert who would provide some comments, as it is common to do this at historical attractions within those sightseeing paths.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Luke Stephen Tysoe

<p>Missionaries to China, by virtue of their positions and knowledge, frequently became important channels of information between cultures. They transmitted Christianity and Western learning to Chinese people while simultaneously describing China to home audiences through their writings and public speaking. This thesis examines how Alexander Don, Presbyterian missionary to the New Zealand Chinese in Otago from 1879 to 1913, performed similar functions as a "cultural mediator". For most of his career, Don was one of the most significant links between Chinese and European people in New Zealand. He developed a relationship with the Chinese community while simultaneously describing Chinese culture to Europeans in his published reports. While Don's missionary career has been extensively documented, there have been no studies of his significance from the perspective of cross-cultural dialogue and exchange. In this thesis I will discuss the ways that Don acted as a cultural mediator, as well as the factors that impelled him to do so. I will make an in-depth investigation of Don's presentation of Chinese culture to European readers through his mission reports, and how this image changed over the course of his career. The picture Don painted was both motivated and influenced by his mission aims, his growing understanding of Chinese culture, and his developing rapport with Chinese people. In order to demonstrate that Don was unique as a cultural mediator in New Zealand, I will compare him to other sources of information on Chinese culture. It will be shown that he provided very different data and opinions from those conveyed by secular writers and authors, and that his descriptions were generally more detailed than those of other missionaries to the New Zealand Chinese and New Zealand missionaries in China. Don will also be compared to more well-known China missionaries, in order to show that he was similar to them in terms of educating Westerners about the East. Finally, I will weigh the impact of Don's cultural mediation activities. Although he gained few converts, he played a crucial role in improving Sino-European understanding and relations. In the final analysis, Don had a greater impact in these areas than he did in the field of evangelism.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nadine Dodge

<p>This thesis investigates the scope for compact development to accommodate population growth in Wellington, New Zealand. The topic is particularly significant for New Zealand as the great majority of the population lives in urban areas, historical development has been dominated by low density urban form, and transport and urban form are two of the main domains in which the country can reduce its carbon emissions. The influence of urban planning and residents’ preferences on achieving sustainable outcomes is investigated.  Historical and current planning rules and transport policies in the City are analysed to determine their influence on the provision of compact development. Wellington’s transport policy shows a pattern of path dependency: historical decisions to favour car oriented investment have driven subsequent transport investments and influenced the ease of using different transport modes. Planning policies show a similar pattern of path dependency: planning rules enacted in the 1960s endure in present planning despite being packaged with different justifications and regulatory regime. Current planning rules severely restrict infill development in most existing neighbourhoods, which reduces the availability of housing in accessible medium density neighbourhoods and likely increases the cost of this type of housing.  A stated choice survey was conducted of 454 residents of Wellington City to investigate the extent to which there is an unmet demand for compact development and alternatives to car travel. The survey held presentation mode constant across two completion modes (internet and door to door with tablet completion), allowing the impacts of recruitment and completion mode to be examined. Survey recruitment mode appeared to influence both response rates and the representativeness of the survey, while completion mode appeared to have little or no impact on survey responses.  Using the stated choice survey results, a latent class model was developed to examine the preferences of residents and the trade-offs they are willing to make when choosing where to live. This type of model allows for the identification of preference groups as a means of understanding the diversity of preferences across the population. The study found that there is an unmet demand for medium density, accessible housing, but that affordability is a barrier for households to choose this type of housing. There was also an unmet demand for walking and cycling, with more residents currently driving than would prefer to use this mode, and more residents preferring to walk and cycle to work than currently use these modes. The ability to use a desired travel mode appears to be related to the neighbourhood in which a person lives, with residents of medium and high density neighbourhoods being more likely to use their preferred travel mode.  This study also modelled future development trajectories for Wellington based on demand for housing, neighbourhood and transport attributes. This preference based growth model was contrasted with the City’s plan for development over the next 30 years. Comparing the two scenarios, the planning based trajectory performed better than the demand based scenario in terms of both carbon emissions and achieving compact development.</p>


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