Computer interactive heuristics to assess preference indefinition and resolve discrepancies between preference ratings and rankings

Ipsative and absolute assessment of preferences are contrasted, with particular reference to the different quantitative and qualitative information provided by each. Although it may not be possible to mathematically combine the respective qualitative information provided by rankings and ratings, when used in conjunction, they may offer a valuable consistency check of a respondent’s preference assessments. A set of heuristics, interactively implemented via computer, is proposed to (1) identify inconsistencies between preference rankings and ratings of the same set of items, and (2) attempt to resolve those inconsistencies. The number of iterations required to resolve inconsistencies might be used as an index of the respondent’s lack of preference definition.