Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

During this course, students will learn how a multi-criteria decision problem can be structured, solved and analyzed. A multi-criteria decision problem is a problem where a number of alternatives (options) need to be evaluated with respect to a number of criteria (attributes) in order to (i) select the best alternative, or (ii) rank all the alternatives, or (iii) sort the alternatives into a number of classes.

A multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method is a method to find a solution for (one or more parts of) an MCDA problem, where the main phases are:

- Formulating the problem (identifying the goal(s); alternatives; and criteria),

- Evaluating the alternatives with respect to the criteria,

- Finding the importance of the criteria,

- Synthesizing the data collected in the previous phases to find a solution,

- Checking the reliability and validity of the outcomes.

These phases are executed with a close interaction between decision-maker(s)(DMs) and analyst.

This course covers the main phases of MCDA problems and some of the main MCDA methods. An overview of the contents of the course is as follows.

- Introduction

- Structuring an MCDA problem

- Multi Attribute Value methods

-Multi Attribute Value Theory (MAVT)

-Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)

-Best Worst Method (BWM)

- Outranking Methods

-ELECTRE methods

-PROMETHEE methods

- Group Decision-Making

- Behavioral considerations