Utility Assessment Methods.

This paper integrates existing and new methods for assessing unidimensional expected utility functions in a comprehensive study of utility assessment. It describes briefly and utility assessment process in decision analysis and then reviews problem formulations, sources of bias in preference judgments, and the analysis of risk attitudes. Critically examined are about two dozen utility assessment methods of which half appear for the first time. These methods are grouped under preference comparison methods, probability equivalence methods, value equivalence methods, certainty equivalence methods, hybrid methods, paired-gamble methods, and other approaches. The nature of judgmental biases is emphased in comparing different assessment procedures. Since most multiattribute utility functions are decomposed into single-attribute functions, this study should facilitate such applications.