SEQUENCE, RANK, or SCORE Subcommand (CONJOINT command)

The SEQUENCE, RANK, or SCORE subcommand is specified to indicate the way in which the preference data were recorded.

SEQUENCE. Each data point in the data file is a profile number, starting with the most-preferred profile and ending with the least-preferred profile. This is how the data are recorded if the subject is asked to order the deck of profiles from most preferred to least preferred. The researcher records which profile number was first, which profile number was second, and so on.

RANK. Each data point is a ranking, starting with the ranking of profile 1, then the ranking of profile 2, and so on. This is how the data are recorded if the subject is asked to assign a rank to each profile, ranging from 1 to n, where n is the number of profiles. A lower rank implies greater preference.

SCORE. Each data point is a preference score assigned to the profiles, starting with the score of profile 1, then the score of profile 2, and so on. These types of data might be generated, for example, by asking subjects to use a Likert scale to assign a score to each profile or by asking subjects to assign a number from 1 to 100 to show how much they like the profile. A higher score implies greater preference.

  • You must specify one, and only one, of these three subcommands.
  • After each subcommand, the names of the variables containing the preference data (the profile numbers, ranks, or scores) are listed. There must be as many variable names listed as there are experimental and holdout profiles in the plan file.

Example

CONJOINT PLAN=* /DATA='DATA.SAV'
  /FACTORS=PRICE (ANTIIDEAL) SPEED (LINEAR) WARRANTY (DISCRETE MORE)
  /SUBJECT=SUBJ
  /RANK=RANK1 TO RANK15.
  • The RANK subcommand indicates that the data are rankings of an ordered sequence of profiles. The first data point after SUBJ is variable RANK1, which is the ranking that is given by subject 1 to profile 1.
  • There are 15 profiles in the plan file, so there must be 15 variables listed on the RANK subcommand.
  • The example uses the TO keyword to refer to the 15 rank variables.