An interactive method for multiple criteria group decision analysis based on interval type-2 fuzzy sets and its application to medical decision making

The theory of interval type-2 fuzzy sets provides an intuitive and computationally feasible way of addressing uncertain and ambiguous information in decision-making fields. The aim of this paper is to develop an interactive method for handling multiple criteria group decision-making problems, in which information about criterion weights is incompletely (imprecisely or partially) known and the criterion values are expressed as interval type-2 trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. With respect to the relative importance of multiple decision-makers and group consensus of fuzzy opinions, a hybrid averaging approach combining weighted averages and ordered weighted averages was employed to construct the collective decision matrix. An integrated programming model was then established based on the concept of signed distance-based closeness coefficients to determine the importance weights of criteria and the priority ranking of alternatives. Subsequently, an interactive procedure was proposed to modify the model according to the decision-makers’ feedback on the degree of satisfaction toward undesirable solution results for the sake of gradually improving the integrated model. The feasibility and applicability of the proposed methods are illustrated with a medical decision-making problem of patient-centered medicine concerning basilar artery occlusion. A comparative analysis with other approaches was performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.     

A novel approach to multi attribute group decision making based on trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy soft sets

Soft set theory, originally proposed by Molodtsov, has become an effective mathematical tool to deal with uncertainty. A type-2 fuzzy set, which is characterized by a fuzzy membership function, can provide us with more degrees of freedom to represent the uncertainty and the vagueness of the real world. Interval type-2 fuzzy sets are the most widely used type-2 fuzzy sets. In this paper, we first introduce the concept of trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy numbers and present some arithmetic operations between them. As a special case of interval type-2 fuzzy sets, trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy numbers can express linguistic assessments by transforming them into numerical variables objectively. Then, by combining trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy sets with soft sets, we propose the notion of trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy soft sets. Furthermore, some operations on trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy soft sets are defined and their properties are investigated. Finally, by using trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy soft sets, we propose a novel approach to multi attribute group decision making under interval type-2 fuzzy environment. A numerical example is given to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.     

A new design of the elimination and choice translating reality method for multi-criteria group decision-making in an intuitionistic fuzzy environment

The purpose of this paper is to design a new extension of the ELECTRE, known as the elimination and choice translating reality method, for multi-criteria group decision-making problems based on intuitionistic fuzzy sets. This method is widely utilized when a set of alternatives should be identified and evaluated with respect to a set of conflicting criteria by reflecting decision makers’ (DMs’) preferences. However, handling the exact data and numerical measure is difficult to be precisely focused because the DMs’ judgments are often vague in real-life decision problems and applications. A more realistic and practical approach can be to use linguistic variables expressed in intuitionistic fuzzy numbers instead of numerical data to model DMs’ judgments and to describe the inputs in the ELECTRE method. The proposed intuitionsitic fuzzy ELECTRE utilizes the truth-membership function and non-truth-membership function to indicate the degrees of satisfiability and non-satisfiability of each alternative with respect to each criterion and the relative importance of each criterion, respectively. Then, a new discordance intuitionistic index is introduced, which is extended from the concept of the fuzzy distance measure. Outranking relations are defined by pairwise comparisons and a decision graph is depicted to determine which alternative is preferable, incomparable or indifferent in the intuitionistic fuzzy environment. Finally, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis is employed to further study regarding the impact of threshold values on the final evaluation, and a comparative analysis is demonstrated with an application example in flexible manufacturing systems between the proposed ELECTRE method and the existing intuitionistic fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (IF-TOPSIS) method.     

基于QUALIFLEX和LINMAP的简化中性犹豫模糊多属性决策方法

在处理多属性决策问题中,QUALIFLEX是一种非常有用的排序算法。针对属性取值为简化中性犹豫模糊集的多属性决策问题,提出了SNHFS-QUALIFLEX算法。另外考虑到属性权重不确定的情况,将LINMAP扩展到简化中性犹豫模糊集中,定义了符号距离,建立了最优数学规划模型来确定属性权重。最后将SNHFS-QUALIFLEX方法应用到多属性决策实例中,并验证了其可行性和有效性。     

The extended linear assignment method for multiple criteria decision analysis based on interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets

The theory of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets is useful and beneficial for handling uncertainty and imprecision in multiple criteria decision analysis. In addition, the theory allows for convenient quantification of the equivocal nature of human subjective assessments. In this paper, by extending the traditional linear assignment method, we propose a useful method for solving multiple criteria evaluation problems in the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy context. A ranking procedure consisting of score functions, accuracy functions, membership uncertainty indices, and hesitation uncertainty indices is presented to determine a criterion-wise preference of the alternatives. An extended linear assignment model is then constructed using a modified weighted-rank frequency matrix to determine the priority order of various alternatives. The feasibility and applicability of the proposed method are illustrated with a multiple criteria decision-making problem involving the selection of a bridge construction method. Additionally, a comparative analysis with other methods, including the approach with weighted aggregation operators, the closeness coefficient-based method, and the auxiliary nonlinear programming models, has been conducted for solving the investment company selection problem to validate the effectiveness of the extended linear assignment method.     

一种模糊ELECTRE多属性决策方法

将模糊集理论与经典的和谐检验与非和谐检验相结合,提出一种模糊ELECTRE的方法。所计算得到的和谐指数、非和谐指数和评价结果都是基于LR梯形模糊数的形式,符合模糊决策系统的实际情况,克服了以往应用ELECTRE方法遇到模糊数难以排序或直接转化为确定系统的缺点。     

基于模糊测度与累积前景理论的区间二型模糊多准则决策方法

针对准则值为区间二型模糊数且准则间存在关联关系的风险型多准则决策问题, 本文提出一种基于模糊测度理论与累积前景理论的区间二型模糊多准则决策方法。首先, 为全面反映准则间的关联关系, 本文提出Shapley区间二型模糊Choquet积分算子, 并证明该算子的一些性质。其次, 为反映专家行为偏好, 本文定义区间二型模糊前景效应与前景价值函数, 并提出累积前景Shapley区间二型模糊Choquet积分算子。然后, 为确定准则集的模糊测度, 本文建立基于区间二型模糊双向投影与Shapley函数的权重优化模型。在此基础上, 本文给出一种用于解决准则值为区间二型模糊数, 准则间存在关联关系, 专家存在风险偏好以及准则权重部分未知的多准则决策方法。最后, 通过风险投资实例佐证所提出的方法的适用性与科学性。     

Multicriterion analysis of a vegetation management problem using ELECTRE II

A brief review of the ELECTRE II technique based on a strong and a weak ordinal outranking relationship is given. This technique, which is applied to alternative vegetation management schemes, leads to a complete ranking of the alternatives by means of three thresholds for concordance conditions and two thresholds for discordance conditions. Specifically, six alternative schemes are evaluated with respect to seven criteria, leading to the determination of a preferred system. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the ELECTRE II ranking is fairly robust with respect to parameter changes for the conditions of the case study.     

Exact inversion of decomposable interval type-2 fuzzy logic systems

It has been demonstrated that type-2 fuzzy logic systems are much more powerful tools than ordinary (type-1) fuzzy logic systems to represent highly nonlinear and/or uncertain systems. As a consequence, type-2 fuzzy logic systems have been applied in various areas especially in control system design and modelling. In this study, an exact inversion methodology is developed for decomposable interval type-2 fuzzy logic system. In this context, the decomposition property is extended and generalized to interval type-2 fuzzy logic sets. Based on this property, the interval type-2 fuzzy logic system is decomposed into several interval type-2 fuzzy logic subsystems under a certain condition on the input space of the fuzzy logic system. Then, the analytical formulation of the inverse interval type-2 fuzzy logic subsystem output is explicitly driven for certain switching points of the Karnik–Mendel type reduction method. The proposed exact inversion methodology driven for the interval type-2 fuzzy logic subsystem is generalized to the overall interval type-2 fuzzy logic system via the decomposition property. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methodology, a simulation study is given where the beneficial sides of the proposed exact inversion methodology are shown clearly.     

A note on “A novel approach to multi attribute group decision making based on trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy soft sets”

Zhang and Zhang (2013) proposed the arithmetic operations of trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy numbers having different left and right heights and hence the arithmetic operations of trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy soft sets having different left and right heights. In this paper, it is pointed out that the complement operation of a trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy number, proposed by Zhang and Zhang, is not valid and hence, the complement operation of trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy soft set as well as all the results, proposed by Zhang and Zhang in which complement operation is used, are not valid. The results, proposed by Zhang and Zhang, are valid only for such trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy numbers and trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy soft sets in which left and right heights are equal.     

Multicriteria fuzzy decision-making method using entropy weights-based correlation coefficients of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets

A multicriteria fuzzy decision-making method based on weighted correlation coefficients using entropy weights is proposed under interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy environment for the some situations where the information about criteria weights for alternatives is completely unknown. To determine the entropy weights with respect to a decision matrix provided as interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IVIFSs), we propose two entropy measures for IVIFSs and establish an entropy weight model, which can be used to determine the criteria weights on alternatives, and then propose an evaluation formula of weighted correlation coefficient between an alternative and the ideal alternative. The alternatives can be ranked and the most desirable one(s) can be selected according to the values of the weighted correlation coefficients. Finally, two applied examples demonstrate the applicability and benefit of the proposed method: it is capable for handling the multicriteria fuzzy decision-making problems with completely unknown weights for criteria.     

A case-based fuzzy multicriteria decision support model for tropical cyclone forecasting

This paper proposes a multi-stage framework for intelligent decision support. The proposed framework integrates case-based reasoning and fuzzy multicriteria decision making techniques. It potentially leads to more accurate, flexible and efficient retrieval of alternatives that are most similar and most useful to the current decision situation. Additionally, the framework provides intelligent assistance in articulating domain expert's preferences through outranking relations. We illustrated the proposed approach in the context of tropical cyclone prediction. Ten years of historical observation data about tropical cyclones was represented within fuzzy multicriteria decision-making problem. We describe a prototype intelligent decision support system, which helps the forecaster in retrieving best-fitted solutions in terms of both usefulness and similarity to the current observed case.     

Fuzzy decision-making method based on the weighted correlation coefficient under intuitionistic fuzzy environment

A multicriteria fuzzy decision-making method based on weighted correlation coefficients using entropy weights is proposed under intuitionistic fuzzy environment for some situations where the information about criteria weights for alternatives is completely unknown. To determine the entropy weights with respect to a set of criteria represented by intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs), we establish an entropy weight model, which can be used to get the criteria weights, and then propose an evaluation formula of weighted correlation coefficient between an alternative and the ideal alternative. The alternatives can be ranked and the most desirable one(s) can be selected according to the weighted correlation coefficients. Finally, two illustrative examples demonstrate the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed method.     

区间犹豫模糊ELECTRE多属性决策方法及应用

近年来,多属性决策问题一直是广大学者研究的重点,然而基于ELECTRE方法的区间犹豫模糊多属性决策问题的研究并不多见。因此,结合区间犹豫模糊集的信息表达优势和ELECTRE方法的思想,提出了一种区间犹豫模糊ELECTRE(IVHF ELECTRE)多属性决策新方法。首先构造了区间犹豫模糊决策矩阵,引入得分函数和可能度的概念,构造属性优势集和属性劣势集。然后通过设定阈值得到综合优先判定矩阵,从而得到各方案间的优先顺序。为了进一步得到各方案的整体排序,引入TOPSIS方法,通过计算各方案与正负理想点的相对距离来构造综合优先矩阵,从而得到各方案的总体排序。最后通过具体实例验证了该方法的可行性和合理性。     

Group decision making based on novel fuzzy modified TOPSIS method

The aim of this paper is to present a novel fuzzy modified technique of order preference by a similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method by a group of experts, which can select the best alternative by considering both conflicting quantitative and qualitative evaluation criteria in real-life applications. The proposed method satisfies the condition of being the closest to the fuzzy positive ideal solution and also being the farthest from the fuzzy negative ideal solution with multi-judges and multi-criteria. The performance rating values of alternatives versus conflicting criteria as well as the weights of criteria are described by linguistic variables and are transformed into triangular fuzzy numbers. Then a new collective index is introduced to discriminate among alternatives in the evaluation process with respect to subjective judgment and objective information. This paper shows that the proposed fuzzy modified TOPSIS method is a suitable decision making tool for the manufacturing decisions with two examples for the robot selection and rapid prototyping process selection.     

基于直觉模糊集的全区间决策方法

针对属性值为直觉模糊集且属性权重已知的模糊多属性决策问题,本文基于直觉模糊算术加权平均算子,提出了一种基于直觉模糊集的全区间决策方法。全区间决策函数引入了态度指标k,从而可以反映决策者态度的变化,从0到1变化k值,可以在整个区间内挖掘决策信息的变化,与得分函数法和基于距离TOPSIS贴近度方法相比,将过去的点值判断延伸至全区间判断,避免了决策信息的丢失现象,决策更加准确合理。实例计算表明该方法的正确性、有效性和合理性,具有一定的推广借鉴价值。     

Aggregation of fuzzy preference relations to multicriteria decision making

Weighted aggregation of fuzzy preference relations on the set of alternatives by several criteria in decision-making problems is considered. Pairwise comparisons with respect to importance of the criteria are given in fuzzy preference relation as well. The aggregation procedure uses the composition between each two relations of the alternatives. The membership function of the newly constructed fuzzy preference relation includes t-norms and t-conorms to take into account the relation between the criteria importance. Properties of the composition and new relation, giving a possibility to make a consistent choice or to rank the alternatives, are proved. An illustrative numerical study and comparative examples are presented.     

Multi-criteria analysis of the impacts of energy alternatives: A survey and a new comparative approach

This paper deals with the problem of comparison of energy alternatives from the social and public health point of view. First the conditions required for an accurate comparison are outlined. Then a large multi-criteria model is carried out in order to provide the framework for comparison of six energy chains: oil, coal, nuclear, solar thermal Themis, solar thermal Thek and solar photovoltaïc specified in the French conditions.The method used is the ELECTRE type and is therefore based on an analysis of the concordance and discordance of criteria. It also allows us to take into account uncertainty, since modelling of preferences is done by fuzzy outranking relations. We then developed four energy strategies based on realistic hypotheses, which allowed us to take into consideration the points of view of the various social groups involved in this problem of energy choices. The results we arrived at coincide with what are known to be the stands of these groups. This makes the method a particularly useful tool, not only to help justify a choice, but above all as a decision-aid.     

基于直觉模糊集的多准则模糊决策问题

提出了一种基于直觉模糊集处理模糊决策问题的新方法.该方法用直觉模糊集描述方案关于准则集的满足程度与不满足程度.而且该方法允许决策者给出准则对于模糊集“重要”的隶属度与非隶属度,即准则的权重也由直觉模糊集表示.这种方法为决策者做出最优决策提供了一种方便有效的方法.     

Multicriteria decision-making method using the Dice similarity measure based on the reduct intuitionistic fuzzy sets of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets

This paper proposes the concept of the reduct intuitionistic fuzzy sets of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IVIFSs) with respect to adjustable weight vectors and the Dice similarity measure based on the reduct intuitionistic fuzzy sets to explore the effects of optimism, neutralism, and pessimism in decision making. Then a decision-making method with the pessimistic, optimistic, and neutral schemes desired by the decision maker is established by combining adjustable weight vectors and the Dice similarity measure for IVIFSs. The proposed decision-making method is more flexible and adjustable in practical problems and can determine the ranking order of alternatives and the optimal one(s), so that it can overcome the difficulty of the ranking order and decision making when there exist the same measure values of some alternatives in some cases. This adjustable feature can provide the decision maker with more selecting schemes and actionable results for the decision-making analysis. Finally, two illustrative examples are employed to show the feasibility of the proposed method in practical applications.