Conjoint analysis” is a broad term that can be used to describe a range of stated-preference methods that have respondents rate, rank, or choose from among a set of experimentally controlled profiles consisting of multiple attributes with varying levels. The most common type of conjoint analysis used in health economics, outcomes research, and health services research (hereafter referred to collectively as “outcomes research”) is the discrete choice experiment (DCE).
The premise of a DCE is that choices among sets of alternative profiles are motivated by differences in the levels of the attributes that define the profiles. By controlling the attribute levels experimentally and asking respondents to make choices among sets of profiles in a series of choice questions, a DCE allows researchers to effectively reverse engineer choice to quantify the impact of changes in attribute levels on choice.
