Building a choice experiment in SurveyEngine
A tutorial on building a simple choice experiment and experimental design in SurveyEngine.
A step-by-step interactive tutorial on building a choice experiment in surveyengine in SurveyEngine. Preview the live tutorial, then download and upload it to your account to examine the construction.
Ben White, 08.07.2026
What this tutorial covers
A tutorial on building a simple choice experiment and experimental design in SurveyEngine.
Each page of the tutorial demonstrates a specific technique. Work through it as a respondent first, then open the editor to see how it was built.
What you will learn
After completing this tutorial you will be able to implement building a choice experiment in surveyengine in your own SurveyEngine surveys.
Download the tutorial ZIP and upload it to your account to use it as a starting point or template for your own work.
TLDR Quick links
Step-by-step walkthrough
Step 1: Create a new choice experiment question. In the survey editor add a choice experiment question type to your page.
Step 2: Define your attributes and levels. Enter the attributes that describe your alternatives and the levels each attribute can take.
Step 3: Generate a D-efficient experimental design. Use SurveyEngine's built-in design engine to generate an optimised design matrix.
Step 4: Configure the choice task display. Set the number of alternatives, column headers, and how attribute levels are displayed to respondents.
Step 5: Add a practice task. Include an introductory choice set to familiarise respondents with the task format before the main experiment begins.
Step 6: Export your data. After fieldwork, export the choice data in a format ready for model estimation in R or Apollo.
Try the live tutorial
The live tutorial is a working SurveyEngine survey. Click through it as a respondent to see the finished result.
Then download the tutorial ZIP file and upload it to your SurveyEngine account to examine how it was built. Open any page in the editor to see the configuration.
Preview the live tutorial or download the ZIP file to load it into your account.
References
Ready to try it? Open a free SurveyEngine account, download the tutorial ZIP and upload it to your account.
Or Contact us at support@surveyengine.com — we're glad to help.