A New Method for Design Decisions Using Decision Topologies

Author(s):  
Vijitashwa Pandey ◽  
Zissimos P. Mourelatos

This paper shows how reliability block diagrams can be used as a decision making tool. The premise behind the idea is that classical decision analysis while very powerful, does not provide tractability in assessing utility functions and their use in making decisions. Our recent work has shown that visual representation of systems using a reliability block diagram can be used to describe a decision situation. In decision making, we called these block diagrams decision topologies. We show that decision topologies can be used to make many engineering decisions and can replace decision analysis for most decisions. The paper proves that at the limit, using decision topologies is entirely consistent with decision analysis for both single attribute and multiattribute cases. The main advantages of the proposed method are that (1) it provides a visual representation of a decision situation, (2) it can easily model tradeoffs, (3) it allows binary attributes, (4) it can be used when limited information is available, and (5) it can be used in a low-fidelity sense to quickly make a decision. The paper details the theoretical basis of the proposed method and highlights its benefits. An example is used to demonstrate how decision topologies can be used in practice.

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijitashwa Pandey ◽  
Zissimos P. Mourelatos

This paper shows how reliability block diagrams can be used as a decision making tool. The premise behind the idea is that classical decision analysis (DA), while very powerful, does not provide much tractability in assessing utility functions and their use in making decisions. Our recent work has shown that a reliability block diagram which is a visual representation of systems, can be used to describe a decision situation. In decision making, we called these block diagrams decision topologies (DTs). We show that DTs can be used to make engineering decisions just as DA. The paper also proves that in the limit, using DTs is entirely consistent with DA for both single attribute and multi-attribute cases. The main advantages of the proposed method are that (1) it provides a visual representation of a decision situation, and (2) accommodates continuous and binary attributes together, as well as the tradeoff between them. The paper details the theoretical basis of the proposed method and highlights its benefits. An example is used to demonstrate how DTs can be used in practice.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Yang ◽  
Xu Sun ◽  
Xingxing Liu ◽  
Jinmei Wang

The urban rainstorm can evolve into a serious emergency, generally characterized by high complexity, uncertainty, and time pressure. It is often difficult for individuals to find the optimal response strategy due to limited information and time constraints. Therefore, the classical decision-making method based on the “infinite rationality” assumption is sometimes challenging to reflect the reality. Based on the recognition-primed decision (RPD) model, a dynamic RPD (D-RPD) model is proposed in this paper. The D-RPD model assumes that decision-makers can gain experience in the escaping process, and the risk perception of rainstorm disasters can be regarded as a Markov process. The experience of recent attempts would contribute more in decision-making. We design the agent according to the D-RPD model, and employ a multi-agent system (MAS) to simulate individuals’ decisions in the context of a rainstorm. Our results show that experience helps individuals to perform better when they escape in the rainstorm. Recency acts as a one of the key elements in escaping decision making. We also find that filling the information gap between individuals and real-time disaster would help individuals to perform well, especially when individuals tend to avoid extreme decisions.


Author(s):  
Igor Klimenko ◽  
A. Ivlev

The study carried out in this work made it possible to expand the rank scale for a priori assessment of the chosen strategy in terms of increasing the sensitivity of assessing the caution / negligence ratio using risky, as well as classical decision-making criteria under conditions of statistical uncertainty.


Axioms ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 124
Author(s):  
Dragiša Stanujkić ◽  
Darjan Karabašević ◽  
Gabrijela Popović ◽  
Predrag S. Stanimirović ◽  
Florentin Smarandache ◽  
...  

Some decision-making problems, i.e., multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) problems, require taking into account the attitudes of a large number of decision-makers and/or respondents. Therefore, an approach to the transformation of crisp ratings, collected from respondents, in grey interval numbers form based on the median of collected scores, i.e., ratings, is considered in this article. In this way, the simplicity of collecting respondents’ attitudes using crisp values, i.e., by applying some form of Likert scale, is combined with the advantages that can be achieved by using grey interval numbers. In this way, a grey extension of MCDA methods is obtained. The application of the proposed approach was considered in the example of evaluating the websites of tourism organizations by using several MCDA methods. Additionally, an analysis of the application of the proposed approach in the case of a large number of respondents, done in Python, is presented. The advantages of the proposed method, as well as its possible limitations, are summarized.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0272989X2110190
Author(s):  
Ilyas Khan ◽  
Liliane Pintelon ◽  
Harry Martin

Objectives 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. Method 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. Results and Conclusion 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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting-Yu CHEN

The theory of interval type-2 fuzzy sets provides an intuitive and computationally feasible method of addressing uncertain and ambiguous information in decision-making fields. This paper aims to develop a prioritised interval type-2 fuzzy aggregation operator and apply it to multiple criteria decision analysis with prioritised criteria. This paper considers situations in which a relationship between the criteria exists such that a lack of satisfaction by the higher priority criteria cannot be readily compensated by the satisfaction of lower priority criteria. This paper introduces the developed prioritised interval type-2 fuzzy aggregation operator to address the problem of criteria aggregation in this environment. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed operator, this paper provides a multiple criteria decision-making method that uses the prioritised interval type-2 fuzzy aggregation operator, and the method is illustrated with a practical application to landfill site selection.


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