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The MCM methodology requires the presentation to stakeholders of a set of policy options that are to be appraised by stakeholders in face-to-face interviews. At the start of the project it was, therefore, essential to select not only relevant stakeholder groups but also a set of policy options that the chosen stakeholders would be asked to appraise.

The task of selecting the policy options to be appraised was framed by the prior decision to differentiate policy options into 3 categories. The first category is referred to as the ‘core options’ and they are options that all interviewees, from all stakeholder groups, were to be asked to appraise in all of the 9 participating countries. The second category is referred to as the ‘discretionary options’ and they are options that would be pre-defined by the project team, but which interviewees would not be required to apprise but which they could appraise if they chose to do so. The third category is referred to as the ‘additional options’ and they are policy options that the project team would not pre-define but which interviewees could specify and articulate as they see fit.