Preference measurement techniques, like the standard gamble, time trade-off, visual analog scale, EuroQol, Health Utilities Index and Quality of Well-Being, are increasingly appearing in published studies. The scores from these instruments are variously called utilities, values or preferences. What are these concepts and do they differ? What are these instruments and what do they measure? What does a reader need to know to make sense of it all? What does a user need to know to select an appropriate approach? Read on for the answers.