Survey Design and Stated Preference Methods

Contingent valuation is a common methodology for eliciting preferences for non-market goods under hypothetical scenarios. Bias reduction strategies have been developed when evaluating low-cost realistic policy changes, including cheap-talk scripts, that alert respondents to tendencies to overstate values, and oath scripts, whereby respondents promise to answer valuation questions truthfully. This paper is the first large-scale experimental comparison of cheap-talk and oath commitments, amongst randomly-assigned respondents, in a field-setting using hypothetical voluntary donations. The data come from three general population surveys eliciting willingness to pay (WTP) for cultural institutions in England. We find limited and case-specific evidence regarding the effectiveness of cheap-talk and oath scripts in affecting stated values, which we attribute to realism and low cost of the proposals, which arguably diminishes hypothetical bias and produces realistic WTP values. We find evidence of the depressing effect of entreaty script on WTP or probability of paying in principle in only one of three case studies. Future research should replicate this experimental design with larger sample sizes and on non-voluntary payment mechanisms. Given the inconsistent findings across three large-scale experimental field studies, our recommendation is to include both cheap-talk and oath scripts where possible, and only cheap-talk where survey length is constrained. ARTICLE HISTORY

Background There is current interest in incorporating weights based on public preferences for health and healthcare into priority-setting decisions. Objective The aim of this systematic review was to explore the extent to which public preferences and trade-offs for priority-setting criteria have been quantified, and to describe the study contexts and preference elicitation methods employed. Methods A systematic review was performed in April 2013 to identify empirical studies eliciting the stated preferences of the public for the provision of healthcare in a priority-setting context. Studies are described in terms of (i) the stated preference approaches used, (ii) the priority-setting levels and contexts, and (iii) the criteria identified as important and their relative importance. Results Thirty-nine studies applying 40 elicitation methods reported in 41 papers met the inclusion criteria. The discrete choice experiment method was most commonly applied (n = 18, 45.0 %), but other approaches, including contingent valuation and the person trade-off, were also used. Studies prioritised health systems (n = 4, 10.2 %), policies/programmes/services/interventions (n = 16, 41.0 %), or patient groups (n = 19, 48.7 %). Studies generally confirmed the importance of a wide range of process, non-health and patient-related characteristics in priority setting in selected contexts, alongside health outcomes. However, inconsistencies were observed for the relative importance of some prioritisation criteria, suggesting context and/or elicitation approach matter. Conclusions Overall, findings suggest caution in directly incorporating public preferences as weights for priority setting unless the methods used to elicit the weights can be shown to be appropriate and robust in the priority-setting context. Abbreviations CUA Cost-utility analysis CV Contingent valuation DCE Discrete choice experiment MCDA Multicriteria decision analysis PTO Person trade-off QALY Quality adjusted life year QoL Quality of Life WTP Willingness to pay Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

A aplicação de técnicas de preferência declarada (PD) fornece eficazmente alguns parâmetros essenciais à formulação de políticas públicas, como valor do tempo de viagem e disposição a pagar para obter benefícios com determinados produtos ou serviços. Além do mais, permitem elaborar cenários de divisão modal e previsão de demanda, quando os dados de PD são combinados com dados de PR. Nesse sentido, esta comunicação técnica apresenta todo o processo de planejamento que culminou na realização de um conjunto de pesquisas de PD, as quais subsidiaram o desenvolvimento de atividades dentro do escopo do Plano Diretor e Operacional do Transporte Intermunicipal de Passageiros do Estado do Ceará (PDOTIP-CE). As pesquisas de PD abordaram o seguinte grupo de segmentos de mercado: usuários de transporte regular, usuários de transporte clandestino, usuários de automóvel, usuários de fretamento contínuo e não usuários de qualquer forma de transporte. Por fim, o trabalho aponta algumas conclusões do processo descrito, relacionadas com as peculiaridades na definição do conjunto de escolha, seleção dos atributos e montagem dos questionários.