Subjects were each seated at a computer and responded individually to questions that
appeared on the screen. The computers presented pairs of items in a unique random order
for each subject. The goods had short names that appeared side-by-side on the monitor,
with their position (right versus left) also randomized. The respondent entered a choice
by pressing the right or left arrow key and could correct mistakes by pressing
"backspace." At the end of the 155 paired comparisons, the computer code repeated in
random order those pairs that were not consistent with the individual's dominant
preference order. It also randomly selected ten consistent pairs. The individual pairs in
these two sets of repeated choices were randomly intermixed, and there was nothing to
indicate to the respondent when the 155 original pairs ended and the repeats began.
The computer program recorded the respondent's choice for each pair, the time in seconds
required for each choice, and the sequence number of each choice.
The pairs were made up of 21 items (10 goods and 11 sums of money). The 155 pairs
consisted of all 45 pairs comparing the goods plus 110 pairs comparing a good with a
sum of money.
Subjects were first given a list of the 10 goods. This list was as follows:
Goods included in the experiment
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PRIVATE GOODS
1. A meal at a Fort Collins restaurant of your choice, not to exceed $15. (Meal)
2. Two tickets and transportation to one of the following:
A) A Colorado ski area of your choice.
B) A concert of your choice in Denver (Contemporary or Classical).
C) A Broncos, Rockies, or Nuggets game.
D) A cultural event of your choice at the Denver Center for the Performing
Arts.
Estimated value: $75 (Tickets)
3. A nontransferable $200 certificate for clothing at a Fort Collins store of your choice.
(Clothes)
4. A nontransferable certificate for you to make $500 worth of flights on an airline of
your choice. (Air Travel)
PUBLIC GOODS
1. A no-fee library service that provides videotapes of all course lectures so that
students can watch tapes of lectures for classes they are not able to attend.
(Videotape Service)
2. Parking garages to increase parking capacity on campus such that students are able
to find a parking place at any time, without waiting, within a five-minute walk of any
building at no increase in the existing parking permit fee. (Parking Capacity)
3. Purchase by CSU of 2,000 acres of land in the mountains west of Fort Collins as a
wildlife refuge for animals native to Colorado. (Wildlife Refuge)
4. A CSU-sponsored, on-campus springtime weekend festival with a variety of live
music and student participation events with no admission fee. (Spring Festival)
5. Expansion of the eating area in the Lory Student Center to ensure that any student
can find a seat at any time. (Eating Area)
6. A cooperative arrangement between CSU, local business groups, and the citizens of
the community that would ensure the air and water of Fort Collins would be at least
as clean as the cleanest 1% of the communities in the U.S. (Clean Arrangement)
________________________________________________________________________
After listening to a presentation about the goods and reading the sheet describing the
goods, subjects were told to begin the PC program on their individual computers, and
first read the following screen:
________________________________________________________________________
This is an interactive computer program that has been designed to make
your participation easier, faster and fun. Please read all of the
instructions and follow them carefully when answering questions.
PLEASE NOTE: After entering an answer, you can backspace to
correct a mistake or change a selection, if needed.
PLEASE WAIT FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO BEGIN.
###
Please compare the following pairs of goods. Use the right or left arrow key to
indicate which of these goods you prefer.
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Socioeconomic and debriefing questions followed the choices between pairs of items.