FREC 444: CONJOINT SURVEY DESIGN

FREC 444--Economics of Environmental Management
Conjoint Survey Design

Now that we have discussed the methods and mechanics of conjoint design surveys, it's time to develop a survey questionnaire for use by the class after spring break. I have circulated standard 4x3, 5x4 and 6x5 orthogonal designs (see below), plus outlines of some possible implementations of the 6x5 design, including a credit-card preference survey and a school choice survey.

Over the weekend I would like you to--

pick a suitable problem, e.g., the valuation of a multi-attribute environmental amenity, the valuation of some non-market environmental attribute of a composite market good, or the characterization of public preferences between alternative multi-attribute environmental policies. This is the tough part. You need to be familiar enough with the issue that you understand the scope of it. For example, if you're going to estimate WTP for protection of coastal plain ponds in Delaware, you would want familiarize yourself with the current situation and whatever laws and protection programs are in place for these ponds.
specify the relevant attributes to be considered, including some price or cost attribute. For the coastal plain ponds example, you might consider variations in the number of ponds protected, the extent of protection (maybe minimum size of forested buffer around the pond) quality of protected ponds (maybe indexed by diversity of salamander species), protection costs, the distribution of those costs between (regulated) landowners and taxpayers, etc.
determine appropriate levels for each of those attributes. Your attribute levels do not all have to be realistic, but you should include levels representing the status quo.
select an appropriate orthogonal design matrix and construct a set of "cards" representing appropriate choice sets for survey respondents to consider. Although I have provided "square" design matrices, your design does not have to be square. For example, a 5x4 design means you can have 5 4-level attributes, or you can split one or more of those attributes into little 2x2 sub-designs, so that the 4 levels of an attribute are permutations of two sub-attributes 1=(0,0) 2=(0,1) 3=(1,0) and 4=(1,1).

We will spend part of class today clarifying this. Make sure you understand what is needed before you leave!

SQUARE ORTHOGONAL DESIGN MATRICES

4 x 3 design
A B C D
0 0 0 0
0 1 1 1
0 2 2 2
1 0 2 1
1 1 0 2
1 2 1 0
2 0 1 2
2 1 2 0
2 2 0 1 5 x 4 design
A B C D E
0 0 0 0 0
0 1 2 1 3
0 2 3 2 1
0 3 1 3 2
1 0 3 1 2
1 1 1 0 1
1 2 0 3 3
1 3 2 2 0
2 0 1 2 3
2 1 3 3 0
2 2 2 0 2
2 3 0 1 1
3 0 2 3 1
3 1 0 2 2
3 2 1 1 0
3 3 3 0 3 6 X 5 design
A B C D E F
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 2 3 3 4
0 2 4 1 1 3
0 3 1 4 4 2
0 4 3 2 2 1
1 0 4 2 3 2
1 1 1 0 1 1
1 2 3 3 4 0
1 3 0 1 2 4
1 4 2 4 0 3
2 0 3 4 1 4
2 1 0 2 4 3
2 2 2 0 2 2
2 3 4 3 0 1
2 4 1 1 3 0
3 0 2 1 4 1
3 1 4 4 2 0
3 2 1 2 0 4
3 3 3 0 3 3
3 4 0 3 1 2
4 0 1 3 2 3
4 1 3 1 0 2
4 2 0 4 3 1
4 3 2 2 1 0
4 4 4 0 4 4

CONJOINT DESIGN EXAMPLE 1:
CREDIT CARD PREFERENCE SURVEY (5x5, 6th attribute for blocking)

A: RATE IF BALANCE CARRIED PAST 20 DAYS
0 = Prime + 2.99% (variable rate)
1 = Prime + 5.99% (variable rate)
2 = 7.99% fixed
3 = 11.99% fixed
4 = 15.99% fixed

B: TYPE/LIMIT
0 = classic, $2,000 limit
1 = gold, $6,000 limit
2 = platinum, $10,000 limit
3 = titanium, $15,000 limit
4 = diamond, $25,000 limit

C: ANNUAL FEE / BALANCE TRANSFER

0 = $0 annual fee
1 = $35 annual fee
2 = $0 annual fee; balance transfer from another account with 2.99% intro rate for next 6 months
3 = $35 annual fee; balance transfer from another account with 5.99% intro rate for next 6 months
4 = $35 annual fee; balance transfer from another account with 5.99% intro rate for next 12 months.

D: BRAND
0 = MBNA
1 = BankOne
2 = JP Morgan/Chase
3 = Citibank
4 = FirstUSA

E: AFFINITY / REWARDS
0 = none
1 = ½ % cash back on purchases
2 = affinity with the non-profit organization to which you donate most.
(a small fraction of your interest payments go to this organization).
3 = ½ % cash back on purchases, plus affinity with the non-profit organization to which you donate
most (a small fraction of your interest payments go to this organization)
4 = affinity with your favorite sports team or special interest.

CONJOINT DESIGN EXAMPLE 2:
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHOICE SURVEY (5x5, 6th attribute for blocking)

A: TYPE OF SCHOOL
0 = public
1 = public
2 = charter
3 = Catholic
4 = private

B: DISTANCE FROM YOUR HOME TO SCHOOL

0 = walking distance
1 = 2 miles
2 = 5 miles
3 = 8 miles
4 = 12 miles

C: SCHOOL RANK BASED ON DELAWARE 3^RD GRADE TEST SCORES
0 = School ranks in bottom third of all equivalent schools in the area, is under review.
1 = School ranks at the mid-range.
2 = School ranks among the top 25 percent of all equivalent schools in the area.
3 = School ranks among the top 5 percent of all equivalent schools in the area.
4 = School did not report test data.

D: COST / EXTRA PROGRAMS
0 = (low cost); no after-school programs
1 = (medium cost); no after-school programs
2 = (medium cost); after school programs ($50/week)
3 = (high cost); no after-school programs
4 = (high cost); after school programs ($50/week)

E: CLASS SIZE / SCHOOL SIZE / GROUPING
0 = 15/class, performance grouping; total school enrollment: 300 students
1 = 15/class, arbitrary grouping, total school enrollment: 300 students
3 = 20/class, performance grouping; total school enrollment: 300 students
4 = 20/class, arbitrary grouping; total school enrollment: 700 students
4 = 20/class, performance grouping, total school enrollment: 700 students

CONJOINT DESIGN EXAMPLE 3:
NEWARK WATER SUPPLY SURVEY (5x? --set your own levels)

A: COST

B: RELIABILITY OF SUPPLY

C: PURITY

D: DROUGHT POLICIES; IN-STREAM FLOW REQUIREMENTS

E: RESERVOIR; SALES;

CONJOINT DESIGN EXAMPLE 4:
COASTAL PLAIN POND PROTECTION (5x? --set your own levels)

A: PERCENT OF EXTANT PONDS PROTECTED

B: PERCENT OF EXTANT AMPHIBIAN SPECIES RETAINED

C: RETENTION OF GLOBALLY RARE SPECIES

D: PROGRAM COST

E: FUNDING MECHANISM/STRATEGY