Carrying out a decision analysis involves breaking a decision problem down into its component parts. For decision analysis, these component parts are the probability of different outcomes occurring and the value or preference an individual attaches to those outcomes. Synthesising the value of these component parts guides you toward the ‘best’ decision option (Dowie 1993, Tavakoli et al 2000) given your goal to maximise the decision maker’s utility (more on utility in a moment). Breaking the decision problem down in this way provides an explicit and transparent map of how a decision has been taken: