Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Part I Basic topics
- 1 In the beginning
- 2 Basic notions of statistics
- 3 Choosing
- 4 Paradigms of choice data
- 5 Processes in setting up stated choice experiments
- 6 Choices in data collection
- 7 NLOGIT for applied choice analysis: a primer
- 8 Handling choice data
- 9 Case study: mode-choice data
- 10 Getting started modeling: the basic MNL model
- 11 Getting more from your model
- 12 Practical issues in the application of choice models
- Part II Advanced topics
- Glossary
- References
- Index
8 - Handling choice data
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Part I Basic topics
- 1 In the beginning
- 2 Basic notions of statistics
- 3 Choosing
- 4 Paradigms of choice data
- 5 Processes in setting up stated choice experiments
- 6 Choices in data collection
- 7 NLOGIT for applied choice analysis: a primer
- 8 Handling choice data
- 9 Case study: mode-choice data
- 10 Getting started modeling: the basic MNL model
- 11 Getting more from your model
- 12 Practical issues in the application of choice models
- Part II Advanced topics
- Glossary
- References
- Index
Summary
It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.
(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1859–1930)Introduction
In teaching courses on discrete choice modeling, we have increasingly observed that many participants struggle with the look of choice data. Courses and texts on econometrics often provide the reader with an already formatted data set (as does this book) yet fail to mention how (and why) the data were formatted in the manner they were. This leaves the user to work out the whys and the hows of data formatting by themselves (albeit with the help of lists such as the Limdep List: see http://limdep.its.usyd.edu.au). The alternative is for the non-expert to turn to user manuals; however, such manuals are often written by experts for experts. We have found that even specialists in experimental design or econometrics have problems in setting up their data for choice modeling.
We now focus on how to format choice data for estimation purposes. We concentrate on data formatting for the program NLOGIT from Econometric Software. While other programs capable of modeling choice data exist in the market, we choose to concentrate on NLOGIT because this is the program that the authors are most familiar with (indeed, Greene and Hensher are the developers of NLOGIT). NLOGIT also offers all of the discrete choice models that are used by practitioners and researchers.
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- Information
- Applied Choice AnalysisA Primer, pp. 218 - 253Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005