Evaluation and decision models with multiple criteria. Stepping stones for the analyst. (Q820231)

This book, spanning over eight chapters, investigates the techniques for decision making using multicriteria methods. The book begins with an introductory chapter describing the principles of decision making, highlighting the relevance of decision making using several real-life examples, and presenting the overall motivation for producing this book. In the second chapter, the principles of problem formulation and structuring are investigated. Both decision making and decision aiding processes and studied and their main characteristics are clearly presented. The third chapter then proceeds to the two main concepts on which any formal evaluation and decision aiding process is based upon: numbers and relations. Their key importance is demonstrated with clarity in this chapter using a series of real life examples and scenarios. The book then continues with chapters four and five, which look into aggregation, i.e., the way to combine the different dimensions of someone's points of view (inputs) into an output for the evaluation process. The importance -- and also sometimes the controversial nature -- of aggregation is presented throughout chapter four. Chapter five studies aggregation procedures and the different type of aggregation functions that can be used (including among others, the Borda and the Condorcet methods). The sixth chapter investigates multidimensional preference models. All the mathematical background necessary to understand the issues arising in higher dimensions is clearly presented by the authors. Several models are presented in this lengthy chapter, including models based on marginal traces, models for valued preferences and models based on marginal traces on differences. Chapter 7 finally looks into the issue of making elaborations on recommendations and follows naturally after the methodology presented in chapters 5 and 6. It is also a fairly large chapter, but the use of several examples throughout makes it easy to read. The book concludes with a summary chapter (chapter 8) and a detailed list of relevant references.