An MCDM for a Large Set of Criteria
Abstract
We present a method for multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) capable of dealing with a large number of criteria. The issue with the most common methods for MCDA is that the number of pairwise comparisons grows quickly with the number of criteria. We have developed a method which reduces the number of pairwise comparisons to a small fixed number. This produces an incomplete judgement matrix from which we obtain a ranking and a weighting of the criteria. The way of doing this is similar to methods based on the geometric or arithmetic mean. A common problem with MCDA is inconsistency, and with a large number of criteria is inconsistency even more abundant. This method is designed to overcome the inconsistency which is bound to occur and extract the decision makers' preferences. The result is a method which is time-saving and which minimizes the workload while sufficient level of accuracy and quality is secured. Furthermore, an interesting result of applying the method is that it acts as a structuring tool. In our applications the formulation of the criteria was improved, new criteria were added and superfluous ones were removed. We present the method, its mathematical foundation and demonstrate a simple tool developed for executing an analysis using the method.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA568343
Entities
People
- Erlend Hoff
- Hilja L. Huru
Organizations
- Norwegian Defence Research Establishment