Class projects using 1000minds

MCDA class project

The objective is for you to undertake a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) for a decision-making problem from your professional or personal life of your own choosing – i.e. whatever interests you. Use your 1000minds account (enabled by your instructor) to work through an MCDA process to reach a decision.

Please work in groups, e.g. 2-4 people. (Alternatively, if necessary and with your instructor’s approval, you can do an individual project on your own.)

If you’d like to, and with your instructor’s approval, you can present to the class as you work on your project or when you finish.

This overview of the MCDA process (see the diagram) should give you some ideas, and perhaps a roadmap, for things to include in your project.

For example, you should “frame” your decision-making problem by addressing:

• What are the characteristics of the problem?
• What is it that you’re trying to decide?
• What are the alternatives you’re considering?
• Why is the decision important or interesting?
• Who are the key decision-makers?
• What might the results be used for?

Please report and discuss your analysis, your results and your decision/recommendations in a report that is well-written and well-presented.

Conjoint analysis class project

The objective is for you to undertake a conjoint analysis, also known as a discrete choice experiments (DCE) and choice modelling, that focuses on the attributes or characteristics of a product, management process or government service or policy – i.e. whatever interests you.

For example, depending on your interests, you might choose an application from one of these broad areas in which conjoint analysis is used:

• designing the “best” product that maximizes market share
• optimizing an organizational process, e.g. conjoint analysis into employee preferences
• investigating policy design issues to devise the “optimal” policy, e.g. for pensions or health care

As illustrated in this example, the following outputs produced by 1000minds, mostly automatically, are likely to be useful for your conjoint analysis.

• attribute rankings
• attribute “relative importance” ratios
• market shares
• “what if” simulations based on changes to alternatives’ attributes
• willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates easily derived from utilities

Please work in groups, e.g. 2-4 people. (Alternatively, if necessary and with your instructor’s approval, you can do an individual project on your own.)

If you’d like to, and with your instructor’s approval, you can present to the class as you work on your project or when you finish.

Please report and discuss your analysis, your results and conclusions/recommendations in a report that is well-presented and well-written.