MCDA4AI: A framework for managing n > 2 criteria problems in decisions about artificial intelligence

The main objectives of this article are 2-fold. First, we explore the application of multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods in different areas of health care, particularly the adoption of various MCDA methods across health care decision making problems. Second, we report on the publication trends on the application of MCDA methods in health care. PubMed was searched for literature from 1960 to 2019 in the English language. A wide range of keywords was used to retrieve relevant studies. The literature search was performed in September 2019. Articles were included only if they have reported an MCDA case in health care. The search yielded 8,318 abstracts, of which 158 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were considered for further analysis. Hybrid methods are the most widely used methods in health care decision making problems. When it comes to single methods, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is the most widely used method followed by TOPSIS (technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution), multiattribute utility theory, goal programming, EVIDEM (evidence and value: impact on decision making), evidential reasoning, discrete choice experiment, and so on. Interestingly, the usage of hybrid methods has been high in recent years. AHP is most widely applied in screening and diagnosing and followed by treatment, medical devices, resource allocation, and so on. Furthermore, treatment, screening and diagnosing, medical devices, and drug development and assessment got more attention in the MCDA context. It is indicated that the application of MCDA methods to health care decision making problem is determined by the nature and complexity of the health care problem. However, guidelines and tools exist that assist in the selection of an MCDA method.

Participatory management is a working method of paramount importance based on the principles of knowledge sharing and accountability for addressing the sustainable management of the fishery sector. To approach this multidimensional problem we applied two Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methods, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Non-Structural Fuzzy Decision Support System (NSFDSS), which were applied incorporating uncertainty to generate probabilistic rankings. The NSFDSS technique was applied for the first time to address a fishery problem. Two surveys were carried out among Mediterranean Advisory Council (MEDAC) stakeholders with different backgrounds. By the two surveys we: i) made an AHP test for exploring stakeholders’ perception of the objectives and indicators used in the monitoring of the stocks, ecosystem, and fisheries, and ii) introduced the NSFDSS technique, gathering feedback on stakeholders’ preferences on management options for improving fishery sustainability (e.g., reducing discards, improving ecosystem state and economic yield in the long term). In the AHP the respondents were asked to evaluate the importance of one objective against another according to a scale of semantic scores from 1 to 5, whereas a simpler scoring scale, with only 3 possible options, was used in the NSFDSS. The two MCDA methods were proven to be useful to elicit stakeholders’ view on the potential effects of key issues on economic and environmental fishery sustainability. The results showed stakeholders’ awareness of the fact that the reproductive potential should be secured by checking mortality and/or fishing intensity. Consistently, among the ecological indicators that are tracking the fisheries policy objectives, a higher rank was attributed to “mean size of the spawners,” while cost efficiency was considered to be essential for improving profits. Regarding the economic indicators, stakeholders gave higher priority to “revenue” in comparison to “production (catches),” which is a sign of awareness that increasing fish production does not necessarily turn into increased revenue. Among the different management strategies, “fleet withdrawal” (scraping) was considered as the worst option, while the “combination of measures” was considered to be the best alternative for achieving a sustainable fishery in the long term.

Inpatient admission management using multiple criteria decision-making methods

Multi-criteria decision analysis to select metrics for design and monitoring of sustainable ecosystem restorations

Power requirements are growing day by day, and more power plants are being constructed all over the world. Now the goal has been to look for more sustainable sources of electricity. Sustainability of power plants is a complicated concept and depends on various criteria and sub-criteria. By evaluating them separately creates a complex problem. For this here Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methods are used for overall assessment and make a sustainability index for seven mostly used power plants. Consideration is taken to both renewable and non-renewable sources. The goal is divided into three basic criteria (i.e. technology, safety & sustainability, economy) and each criterion is further sub-divided into different sub-criteria. The data is collected from various sources and then analyzed using AHP and PROMETHEE methods. The result indicate renewable sources are typically advantageous over non-renewable sources. In certain cases, nuclear has some benefits over other non-renewable energy sources.

Siting of a central healthcare waste incinerator using GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

Forest fires have a significant impact on human life, property safety, and ecological environment. Deve-loping high-quality forest fire risk maps is beneficial for preventing forest fires, guiding resource allocation for firefighting, assisting in fire suppression efforts, and supporting decision-making. With a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method based on geographic information systems (GIS) and literature review, we assessed the main factors influencing the occurrences of forest fires in Youxi County, Fujian Province. We analyzed the importance of each fire risk factor using the analytic network process (ANP) and assigned weights, and evaluated the sub-standard weights using fuzzy logic assessment. Using ArcGIS aggregation functions, we generated a forest fire risk map and validated it with satellite fire points. The results showed that the areas classified as level 4 or higher fire risk accounted for a considerable proportion in Youxi County, and that the central and northern regions were at higher risk. The overall fire risk situation in the county was severe. The fuzzy ANP model demonstrated a high accuracy of 85.8%. The introduction of this novel MCDA method could effectively improve the accuracy of forest fire risk mapping at a small scale, providing a basis for early fire warning and the planning and allocation of firefighting resources.

This paper proposed a concept of the Group Decision Support System (GDSS) to evaluate the performance of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Projects in Indonesian regional government agencies to overcome any possible inconsistencies which may occur in a decision-making process. By considering the aspect of the applicable legislation, decision makers involved to provide an assessment and evaluation of the ICT project implementation in regional government agencies consisted of Executing Parties of Government Institutions, ICT Management Work Units, Business Process Owner Units, and Society, represented by DPRD (Regional People’s Representative Assembly). The contributions of those decision makers in the said model were in the form of preferences to evaluate the ICT project-related alternatives based on the predetermined criteria for the method of Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM). This research presented a GDSS framework integrating the Methods of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Copeland Score. The AHP method was used to generate values for the criteria used as input in the calculation process of the TOPSIS method. Results of the TOPSIS calculation generated a project rank indicated by each decision maker, and to combine the different preferences of these decision makers, the Copeland Score method was used as one of the voting methods to determine the best project rank of all the ranks indicated by the desicion makers.

To resolve environmental and social problems and traffic congestion, a sustainability evaluation of transportation infrastructure should be done for current and proposed situations. The aim of the present investigation is to evaluate the sustainability of infrastructure project on system interchange and assess their results with respect to sustainable development indicators. Based on interviews with experts, intensive observation, and development infrastructure related to the case study, six proposed scenarios are proposed to improve traffic condition of the Sheikhfazolah-Yadegar interchange in Tehran. The proposed scenarios are modeled and calibrated in AIMSUN 8.0, then the value of all indicators are determined through an indirect and direct procedure by AIMSUN results. A technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method is used to integrate the results of proposed indicators. Although the weight of each indicator specifies its effect in sustainability evaluation, changes intensity of indicator value was not applied in sustainability evaluation by the previous methods of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). In this study, for the first time, a simplified approach is defined and used to evaluate sustainable development of all scenarios that can apply the effect of changes intensity in sustainability evaluation. This method is named the applied effect of changes intensity in each indicator (AECIEI). According to the purposes of Tehran vision in 2025, all proposed scenarios are ranked based on TOPSIS results and the simplified approach, and then results of these methods are compared.

Vietnam’s garment industry is facing many challenges, including domestic competition and the global market. The free trade agreement, which Vietnam signed, includes environmental barriers, sustainable development, and green development. The agreement further requires businesses to make efforts to improve not only product quality but also the production process. In cases when enterprises cause environmental pollution in the production process and do not apply solutions to reduce waste, save energy, and natural resources, there is a risk of no longer receiving orders or orders being rejected, especially orders from the world’s major branded garment companies. In this research, the authors propose a multicriteria decision-making model (MCDM) for optimizing the supplier evaluation and selection process for the garment industry using sustainability considerations. In the first stage of this research, all criteria affecting supplier selection are determined by a triple bottom line (TBL) model (economic, environmental, and social aspects) and literature reviews; in addition, the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) method was utilized to identify the weight of all criteria in the second stage. The technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) is a multicriteria decision analysis method, which is used for ranking potential suppliers in the final stage. As a result, decision-making unit 10 (DMU/10) is found to be the best supplier for the garment industry. The contribution of this research includes modeling the supplier selection decision problem based on the TBL concept. The proposed model also addresses different complex problems in supplier selection, is a flexible design model for considering the evaluation criteria, and is applicable to supplier selection in other industries.

Approximately 3000 papers concerning multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) in the environmental field were identified through a series of queries in the Web of Science database and classified by MCDA method and environmental application using text mining in R. Stemming and stop word removal techniques were used to remove irrelevant text from the literature. Trends in MCDA methods (AHP/ANP, TOPSIS, outranking, MAUT/MAVT) associated with specific environmental applications (water, air, energy, natural resources, and waste management) or interventions/tools applications (stakeholders, strategies, sustainability, and GIS) were identified. The results show a linear growth in the share of MCDA papers in environmental science across all application areas. Furthermore, the results show that AHP/ANP and MAUT/MAVT are the most frequently mentioned MCDA methods in the literature. For environmental applications, the results showed that natural resource and waste management keywords were, respectively, the most and least commonly discussed applications within the MCDA papers. For intervention/tool applications, we found that keywords associated with ‘strategy’ and ‘GIS’ applications are, respectively, the most and least commonly discussed keywords within the MCDA papers. The authors found that MCDA method keywords were evenly distributed across the environmental and intervention/tool applications, indicating a lack of preference in the environmental field for use of specific MCDA methods. This paper demonstrates that text mining is an applicable tool to assess specific textual trends and patterns when analyzing larger bodies of MCDA literature.

This study presents a comprehensive multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework for evaluating and selecting optimal non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques for oil and gas facility maintenance operations. This research used a Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) integrated with multiple MCDM methods to assess eight NDT techniques including radiographic testing, ultrasonic testing, and thermographic testing. The evaluation framework incorporated seven technical criteria and seven economic criteria. The FAHP results revealed spatial resolution (0.175) as the most critical technical criterion, followed by depth penetration (0.155) and defect characterization (0.143). For economic criteria, downtime costs (0.210) and operational costs (0.190) emerged as the most significant factors. This study used TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment of Evaluations), and VIKOR (VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) methods to rank NDT techniques, with results consolidated using the CRITIC (CRiteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation) method. The final techno-economic analysis identified radiographic testing as the most suitable NDT method with a score of 0.665, followed by acoustic emission testing at 0.537. Visual testing ranked lowest with a score of 0.214. This research demonstrates the effectiveness of combining fuzzy logic with multiple MCDM approaches for NDT method selection in offshore welding operations.

The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method are two methods that are commonly used to handle multicriteria problems. The AHP technique uses a matrix of pairwise comparisons and a hierarchical approach to criteria in order to obtain the final criteria weights. In contrast, the TOPSIS approach incorporates the concepts of proximity to the ideal solution and preference. Next, TOPSIS uses the previously established criterion weights to compute each option's relative closeness score to the ideal answer. In order to determine how effectively the AHP and TOPSIS methodologies complement one another, this study aims to assess the protocols and underlying assumptions of the two approaches. When decision makers are aware of the benefits and drawbacks of each approach, they may choose the best course of action from a mix of the two. The results of the study indicate that the process may be streamlined, subjectivity can be reduced, and criterion weights can be stabilized by combining the AHP and TOPSIS approaches.The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method are two methods that are commonly used to handle multicriteria problems. The AHP technique uses a matrix of pairwise comparisons and a hierarchical approach to criteria in order to obtain the final criteria weights. In contrast, the TOPSIS approach incorporates the concepts of proximity to the ideal solution and preference. Next, TOPSIS uses the previously established criterion weights to compute each option's relative closeness score to the ideal answer. In order to determine how effectively the AHP and TOPSIS methodologies complement one another, this study aims to assess the protocols and underlying assumptions of the two approaches. When decision makers are aware of the benefits and drawbacks of each approach, they may choose the best course of action from a mix of the two. The results of the study indicate that the process may be streamlined, subjectivity can be reduced, and criterion weights can be stabilized by combining the AHP and TOPSIS approaches.

Flooding is one of the major natural catastrophic disasters that causes massive environmental and socioeconomic destruction. The magnitude of losses due to floods has prompted researchers to focus more on robust and comprehensive modeling approachesfor alleviating flood damages. Recently developed multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods are being widely used to construct decision-making process more participatory, rational, and efficient. In this study, two statistical MCDM approaches, namely the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), have been employed to generate flood risk maps together with hazard and vulnerability maps in a GIS framework for Navsari city in Gujarat, India, to identify the vulnerable areas that are more susceptible to inundation during floods. The study area was divided into 10 sub areas (i.e., NC1 to NC10) to appraise the degree of flood hazard, vulnerability and risk intensities in terms of areal coverage and categorized under 5 intensity classes, viz., very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. A total of 14 flood indicators, seven each for hazard (i.e., elevation, slope, drainage density, distance to river, rainfall, soil, and flow accumulation) and vulnerability (i.e., population density, female population, land use, road network density, household, distance to hospital, and literacy rate) were considered for evaluating the flood risk. Flood risk coverage evaluated from the two approaches were compared with the flood extent computed from the actual flood data collected at 36 random locations. Results revealed that the TOPSIS approach estimated more precise flood risk coverage than the AHP approach, yielding high R2 values, i.e., 0.78 to 0.95 and low RMSE values, i.e., 0.95 to 0.43, for all the 5 risk intensity classes. The sub areas identified under "very high" and "high" risk intensity classes (i.e., NC1, NC4, NC6, NC7, NC8, and NC10) call for immediate flood control measures with a view to palliate the extent of flood risk and consequential damages. The study demonstrates the potential of AHP and TOPSIS integrated with GIS towards precise identification of flood-prone areas for devising effective flood management strategies.

Bibliometric Study on Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) Applied to the Selection of Operational Means in a Military Environment