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Decision-making Methods (decision-making + methods)
Selected AbstractsDEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF MULTIPLE-OBJECTIVE DECISION-MAKING METHODS FOR WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLANNING,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 2 2002France Lamy ABSTRACT: Making decisions for environmental management is a complex task due to the multiplicity and diversity of technological choices. Furthermore, the exploitation of natural resources and the preservation of the natural environment imply objectives that are often in conflict within a sustainable development paradigm. Managers and other decision makers require techniques to assist them in understanding strategic decision making. This paper illustrates the use of a multiple-objective decision-making methodology and an integrative geographical information system-based decision-making tool developed to help watershed councils prioritize and evaluate restoration activities at the watershed level. Both were developed through a multidisciplinary approach. The decision-making tool is being applied in two watersheds of Oregon's Willamette River Basin. The results suggest that multiple-objective methods can provide a valuable tool in analyzing complex watershed management issues. [source] Utility Functions for Ceteris Paribus PreferencesCOMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, Issue 2 2004Michael McGeachie Ceteris paribus (all-else equal) preference statements concisely represent preferences over outcomes or goals in a way natural to human thinking. Although deduction in a logic of such statements can compare the desirability of specific conditions or goals, many decision-making methods require numerical measures of degrees of desirability. To permit ceteris paribus specifications of preferences while providing quantitative comparisons, we present an algorithm that compiles a set of qualitative ceteris paribus preferences into an ordinal utility function. Our algorithm is complete for a finite universe of binary features. Constructing the utility function can, in the worst case, take time exponential in the number of features, but common independence conditions reduce the computational burden. We present heuristics using utility independence and constraint-based search to obtain efficient utility functions. [source] A fuzzy preference-ranking model for a quality evaluation of hospital web sitesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 11 2006R. Ufuk Bilsel This article presents a quality evaluation model for measuring the performance of hospital Web sites. The model is developed on the basis of a conceptual framework, which consists of seven major e-service quality dimensions, including tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, confidence, empathy, quality of information, and integration of communication issues of Web sites. The dimensions and their associated attributes are first obtained from published articles in the health care and information technology literature and then adapted according to the suggestions of related domain experts. Two multicriteria decision-making methods are used in the evaluation procedure. Determined Web site evaluation dimensions and their relevant attributes are weighted using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Vagueness in some stages of the evaluation required the incorporation of fuzzy numbers in the assessment process. Both fuzzy and crisp data are then synthesized using the fuzzy PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation) ranking method. The model is applied initially to measure the performance of the Web sites of Turkish hospitals. This study should be of interest to health care and technology practitioners and researchers, as the findings shed light on the further development of performance measurements for hospital Web sites. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 21: 1181,1197, 2006. [source] Project risk evaluation using a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process: An application to information technology projectsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 6 2006Fatih Tüysüz Projects are critical to the realization of performing organization's strategies. Each project contains some degree of risk and it is required to be aware of these risks and to develop the necessary responses to get the desired level of project success. Because projects' risks are multidimensional, they must be evaluated by using multi-attribute decision-making methods. The aim of this article is to provide an analytic tool to evaluate the project risks under incomplete and vague information. The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as a suitable and practical way of evaluating project risks based on the heuristic knowledge of experts is used to evaluate the riskiness of an information technology (IT) project of a Turkish firm. The means of the triangular fuzzy numbers produced by the IT experts for each comparison are successfully used in the pairwise comparison matrices. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 21: 559,584, 2006. [source] Cost-sensitive learning and decision making for massachusetts pip claim fraud dataINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 12 2004Stijn Viaene In this article, we investigate the issue of cost-sensitive classification for a data set of Massachusetts closed personal injury protection (PIP) automobile insurance claims that were previously investigated for suspicion of fraud by domain experts and for which we obtained cost information. After a theoretical exposition on cost-sensitive learning and decision-making methods, we then apply these methods to the claims data at hand to contrast the predictive performance of the documented methods for a selection of decision tree and rule learners. We use standard logistic regression and (smoothed) naive Bayes as benchmarks. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 19: 1197,1215, 2004. [source] Ethical decision-making for knowledge representation and organization systems for global useJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 9 2005Clare Beghtol In this article, ethical decision-making methods for creating, revising, and maintaining knowledge representation and organization systems are described, particularly in relation to the global use of these systems. The analysis uses a three-level model and the literature on ethically based decision-making in the social and technical sciences. In addition, methods for making these kinds of decisions in an ethical manner are presented. This multidisciplinary approach is generalizable to other information areas and is useful for encouraging the development of ethics policies for knowledge representation and organization systems and for other kinds of systems or institutions. [source] A multicriteria ranking of organotin(IV) compounds with fungicidal propertiesAPPLIED ORGANOMETALLIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 10 2003Godwin A. Ayoko Abstract The application of multicriteria decision-making methods to the results of in vitro antifungal properties of organotin compounds of the type PhxSnXz (x = 2 or 3; X = O2CC6H4OH, O2CC6H4OCOCH3, Cl or O2CCH3; z = 1 or 2) and of free 2-hydroxybenzoic and 2-acetoxybenzoic acids against Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Candida albicans, Penicillium citrinum, Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton violaceum have been described. Ranking information necessary to select one toxicant in preference to others and to assess the properties influencing the preference has been obtained. Patterns in the multivariate analyses suggest that cationic and anionic moieties of the toxicant play some roles in their fungicidal activities. The triphenyltin compounds were generally more active than their diphenyltin analogues, but the acetoxybenzoates were more active than the corresponding hydroxybenzoates, acetates or chlorides. Thus, triphenyltin acetoxybenzoate is up to 7.5 times as active as the corresponding acetate, which is commercially marketed as a fungicide. The results of the analyses have been discussed in the light of the mechanism of antifungal activity of organotin compounds and the potential of multivariate data analysis techniques to facilitate the screening and ranking of antifungal agents. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||