computer science

Sawtooth Software

Sawtooth Software is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sawtooth Software rather than just read about it. In short: Sawtooth Software, Inc. is a computer software company based in Provo, Utah, United States. The company provides survey software tools, and specializes in conjoint analysis.

Key takeaways

Sawtooth Software belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sawtooth Software to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sawtooth Software from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sawtooth Software, Inc. is a computer software company based in Provo, Utah, United States. The company provides survey software tools, and specializes in conjoint analysis. According to the American Marketing Association, Sawtooth Software was ranked fourth in 2005 among software used in market research (after SPSS, Microsoft Excel, and SAS System).

History In the late 1960s, Rich Johnson, who was then an employee of Market Facts, Inc., developed a technique they called "Tradeoff Analysis". It consisted of questioning respondents about various concepts composed of multiple attributes and comparing their responses to the different concepts. In 1971, Paul Green published an article titled "Conjoint Measurement for Quantifying Judgmental Data". When Johnson became aware of Green's research, he identified his technique as a variety of conjoint analysis. In the mid 70's, Johnson co-founded the John Morton Company in part to apply computer technology to Tradeoff Analysis. Johnson purchased an Apple II and began to program interviews for use on client projects. Each project was programmed custom for the client. During this time Johnson was fascinated by the ability of the computer to facilitate the collection of respondent data. In 1982 Johnson left the John Morton Company and founded Sawtooth Software to pursue creating generalized software for use in marketing research.

Products Sawtooth Software has created products for traditional conjoint analysis, as well as discrete choice analysis and other forms of conjoint. In addition there are non-conjoint products involving interviewing, perceptual mapping, and cluster analysis.

Conjoint Techniques Adaptive Conjoint Analysis (ACA) Adaptive Choice Based Conjoint (ACBC) Choice Based Conjoint (CBC) Conjoint Value Analysis (CVA) Maximum Difference Scaling (MaxDiff) Menu-Based Choice (MBC)

Analysis Techniques Hierarchical Bayes (HB) Latent Class (LC) Logit Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Convergent Cluster & Ensemble Analysis (CCEA) Composite Product Mapping (CPM) (retired)

General Interviewing Packages Lighthouse Studio Discover Ci3 (retired)

Relationships Sawtooth Software maintains relationships with academics and market research organizations such as the American Marketing Association and ESOMAR. Researchers developing new interviewing techniques such as Maximum Difference (Best Worst) have used Sawtooth Software to assist in constructing their projects. In addition to producing products, Sawtooth Software has also hosted a research conference every 18 months in the United States since 1987. The conference is not a sales event, and speakers with contrary opinions or competing products attend and present.

References

External links Sawtooth Software Homepage

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sawtooth Software

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sawtooth Software claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sawtooth Software before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sawtooth Software ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sawtooth Software

In research: Sawtooth Software appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sawtooth Software in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sawtooth Software is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1983 establishments in Idaho, Companies based in Provo, Utah, Decision-making software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sawtooth Software outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sawtooth Software in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sawtooth Software means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sawtooth Software out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sawtooth Software in simple terms?

Sawtooth Software, Inc. is a computer software company based in Provo, Utah, United States. The company provides survey software tools, and specializes in conjoint analysis.

Why does Sawtooth Software matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sawtooth Software?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sawtooth Software.