4/3/2014

Interpreting Preference Values - 1000Minds

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Home > Academic > Intro to MCDM > Points systems > Interpreting preference values

INTERPRETING PREFERENCE VALUES.

A decision-makers preference values (or point or utility values) represent the relative importance of the criteria to him or her.
Each criterions relative importance (weight) ie. relative to the other criteria is represented by the value of its highest-ranked level. For example, if the highest level for criterion a is worth 20% and the highest level for criterion b is worth 10%, then criterion a is twice as important as criterion b. (It can also be said that criterion as importance is 20% and criterion bs importance is 10%.) Clearly, though, the relative importance of a criterion to a decision-maker depends on the breadth and salience of the levels specified for the criterion. The broader and more salient the levels, the more important will be the criterion. For example, suppose you were choosing a house to buy according to a range of criteria (eg. Views, Number of Bedrooms, Condition etc. If the Views criterion, for example, were specified such that its highest-ranked level was, say, majestic views then this criterion would be revealed as more important to you (by your preference values) than if its highest-ranked level was just OK views. Make sense? And if youre curious about how preference values (or point or utility values) are determined by 1000Minds, see PAPRIKA method.

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