Utility measurement itself may also be questioned as an approach. Is it
possible, or indeed appropriate, to try and quantify something which is so
subjective and emotional (Tavakoli et al 2000)? As we saw earlier, utility
values depend on the method by which they are measured and are subject
to framing. Asking individuals to evaluate a health state of which they have
no experience, and might not be able to understand (Dowding & Thompson
2002), is not only counterintuitive but also fundamentally flawed. Hastie &
Dawes (2001) highlight the anomaly whereby individuals asked to rate a
health state before diagnosis (e.g. being HIV positive) were more negative
about the state than when asked to rate the same state a year after being
diagnosed. People adapt.