ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the methods available and in particular the role of conjoint analysis. It demonstrates how conjoint analysis can be a useful technique for eliciting patient and public preferences. The chapter gives some background to the technique and presents the steps involved in undertaking a conjoint analysis exercise. Following this, an example is drawn from primary care to demonstrate the applicability of the instrument. A number of approaches have been developed to obtain the views of patients and the public on how resources should be allocated. Economic techniques for eliciting public preferences all include the notion of sacrifice or trading. Conjoint analysis was developed in mathematical psychology and has been widely used in marketing, transport economics and more recently environmental economics. The chapter proposes conjoint analysis as a rigorous survey technique for eliciting the views of patients and people in the community on healthcare. The application presented here shows the potential uses of the technique.
