I am working on a choice experiment design including a status quo option and many constraints for realistic purposes.
The design has three scenarios A, B, and C; attributes are identical in the three scenarios, and only levels change slightly.
Scenario A:
•Attribute1 Type: Categorical (type0, type1, type2, type3)
•Attribute2 Cost: Pivoted around reference cost 700 (-40%, -20%, 0%, +20%, +40%) or (420, 560, 700, 840, 980)
•Attribute3 Time: Pivoted around reference time 90 (+0, +15, +30, +45, +60) or (90, 105, 120, 135, 150)
•Attribute4 Emissions: (0%, 10%, 35%, 60%, 80%, 100%)
Scenario B and Scenario C,
•Attribute1 Type: Categorical (type0, type1, type2) change to 3 types in total
•Attribute2 Cost: Pivoted around two different reference cost (-40%, -20%, 0%, +20%, +40%)
•Attribute3 Time: Pivoted around two different reference time (+0, +15, +30, +45, +60)
•Attribute4 emissions: (0%, 10%, 35%, 60%, 80%, 100%) no change
Several constraints are imposed:
1. Status quo: type =0, cost=700, time=90 (different reference level of time&cost for Scenario B and C)
2. Attribute Time:
•type1 time = type0 time = 90 (base level of Scenario A)
•type2 time > type3 time > type0/1 time
3. Attribute Emissions:
•Emissions for type0 is always 0 (base level), emissions for other types are compared with the base level
•Emissions for type1 vary between [10,35,60,80,100]
•Emissions for type2 & type3 is always 100
The code for Scenario A is shown below:
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design ? Scenario A design
;alts = alt1*, alt2*, sq*
;rows = 36
;block= 12
;eff = (mnl,d)
;alg = mfederov (candidates=1412)
;require: ? fixed reference level for status quo option
sq.type=0,
sq.cost=700,
sq.time=90,
sq.emission=0 ?base level, emissions for other types are compared with the base level
? 0=type0, 1=type1, 2=type2, 3=type3
;reject:
?time for type1 is always equal to type0,which is 90
alt1.type=1 AND alt1.time = 105 OR alt1.time = 120 OR alt1.time = 135 OR alt1.time = 150,
alt2.type=1 AND alt2.time = 105 OR alt2.time = 120 OR alt2.time = 135 OR alt2.time = 150,
?time for type2 is always the highest
alt1.type=2 AND alt1.time <= alt2.time,
alt2.type=2 AND alt2.time <= alt1.time,
alt1.type=2 AND alt1.time = 90,
alt2.type=2 AND alt2.time = 90,
? time for type3 is always higher than type0
alt1.type=3 AND alt2.type=0 AND alt1.time <= alt2.time,
alt2.type=3 AND alt1.type=0 AND alt2.time <= alt1.time,
alt1.type=3 AND alt1.time = 90,
alt2.type=3 AND alt2.time = 90,
? time for type3 is always higher than type1
alt1.type=3 AND alt2.type=1 AND alt1.time <= alt2.time,
alt2.type=3 AND alt1.type=1 AND alt2.time <= alt1.time,
? emissions for type0 is the base level, so always 0
alt1.type=0 AND alt1.emission=10 OR alt1.emission=35 OR alt1.emission=60 OR alt1.emission=80 OR alt1.emission=100,
alt2.type=0 AND alt2.emission=10 OR alt2.emission=35 OR alt2.emission=60 OR alt2.emission=80 OR alt2.emission=100,
? emissions for type2 and type3 are always 100
alt1.type=2 AND alt1.emission=10 OR alt1.emission=35 OR alt1.emission=60 OR alt1.emission=80 OR alt1.emission=0,
alt1.type=3 AND alt1.emission=10 OR alt1.emission=35 OR alt1.emission=60 OR alt1.emission=80 OR alt1.emission=0,
alt2.type=2 AND alt2.emission=10 OR alt2.emission=35 OR alt2.emission=60 OR alt2.emission=80 OR alt2.emission=0,
alt2.type=3 AND alt2.emission=10 OR alt2.emission=35 OR alt2.emission=60 OR alt2.emission=80 OR alt2.emission=0,
? emissions for type1 range from 10% to 100%
alt1.type=1 AND alt1.emission=0,
alt2.type=1 AND alt2.emission=0,
? sq.type=0, don’t want a design that has three type0 option
alt1.type=0 AND alt2.type=0,
alt2.type=0 AND alt1.type=0
;model:
U(alt1) = bcost[-0.000001]*cost[420,560,700,840,980]
+ btime[-0.000001]*time[90,105,120,135,150]
+ btype.dummy[0|0|0]*type[1,2,3,0] ?0=type0 as base, 1=type1, 2=type2, 3=type3
+ bemission[0.000002]*emission[0,10,35,60,80,100]
/
U(alt2) = bcost*cost
+ btime*time
+ btype*type
+ bemission*emission
/
U(sq) = bcost*cost
+ btime*time
+ btype*type
+ bemission*emission
$
My questions are:
1. The primary outcome I wanted to get from this choice experiment are: WTP for categorical attribute "type"; the value of time; and interactions with socio-demographic variables. The best D-error I can get for Scenario A so far is 0.002304, for Scenario B is 0.000668, and for Scenario C is 0.00059.
For all three scenarios, I set 36 rows and 12 blocks, meaning each respondent will have 9 choice tasks in total and 3 choice tasks per scenario. Do you think it is possible to get the reasonable outcome I would like to get given the current design?
2. The attribute “emissions” are fixed for sq & type0 =0%, are fixed for type2&3, which is always 100%; so the levels [10,35,60,80,100] are only varying for type 1.
Looking at the 36 choice tasks I got for Scenario A, there are not too many variations in “emissions” for type 1, level 35 and 60 never appear. Do you think there is any way I can improve to allow more variations?
3. Also, regarding the attribute “emissions”. Currently, it’s a continuous variable and has a generic parameter. I was thinking to change it to a dummy-coded categorical variable, such that I can get parameters for different levels of emissions.
However, this couldn't be achieved in Ngene. I tried
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+ bemission.dummy[0|0|0|0|0]*emission[1,2,3,4,5,0] ?0=0, 1=10%, 2=35%, 3=60%, 4=80% , 5=100%
I would greatly appreciate your help.
Many thanks,
Peggy