Choice Dilemmas Questionnaire (CDQ)

Mr. A (electrical engineer) must choose between a secure lifetime job with a modest salary and a job with a startup company that offers higher pay and ownership potential but has a highly uncertain future.

Mr. B (45-year-old accountant) must choose between living with a severe heart ailment that restricts his lifestyle and undergoing a delicate medical operation that could cure him but might prove fatal.

Mr. C (married man with two children) must choose between investing inherited money in secure blue-chip stocks or in a relatively unknown company's stocks that might double in value or decline.

Mr. D (football captain) must decide in the final seconds of a game whether to settle for a tie score with a safe play or try a risky play that could bring victory or defeat.

Mr. E (president of a corporation) must decide whether to build a new plant in the U.S. with moderate returns or in a foreign country with higher returns but political instability and risk of nationalization.

Mr. F (college senior) must choose between enrolling in a highly prestigious university where only a fraction of candidates graduate, or a less prestigious university where graduation is almost certain.

Mr. G (chess player) must decide whether to attempt a deceptive but risky maneuver that could bring quick victory or lead to almost certain defeat if it fails.

Mr. H (college senior with musical talent) must choose between going to medical school (certain prestige and financial rewards) or entering a music conservatory to become a concert pianist (uncertain success).

Mr. J (POW in WWII) must decide whether to attempt an escape by concealing himself in a supply truck (risk of execution if caught) or remain in the camp under bad conditions.