Randomising attribute order in choice experiments
Randomising the order of attributes in a choice experiment to control for order effects.
A step-by-step interactive tutorial on randomising attribute order in choice experiments 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
Randomising the order of attributes in a choice experiment to control for order effects.
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 randomising attribute order in choice experiments 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: Understand attribute order effects. Respondents may pay more attention to attributes listed first - randomising order controls for this bias.
Step 2: Enable attribute randomisation. In the choice experiment attribute settings, enable random ordering of attributes across respondents.
Step 3: Set fixed and randomised attributes. You can fix some attributes (like cost) in a consistent position while randomising others.
Step 4: Test the randomisation. Preview the survey multiple times to confirm attributes appear in different orders.
Step 5: Analyse attribute order effects. Include attribute position as a covariate in your model to test for and control order effects.
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.