Multicriteria Decision Aiding

Recommended Prerequisites

n.a.

 

Teaching Methods

Classroom interaction:

- Presentation of the themes promoting debate (student-student and student-teacher).

- Solving (by students, individually or in small groups, or by the teacher) of cases that illustrate the practical relevance of the themes and different decision aiding strategies.

- Role-playing.

The presentation of the themes and the study of cases emphasize the motivation of the students for studying the themes being addressed, by using concrete examples and mentioning the related research activities of the teacher.

 Evaluation:

- Research assignment for groups (e.g., to investigate consumer preferences) – 50%.

- Individual assignment of studying and presenting a multicriteria evaluation software – 50%.

 Although there are no formal office hours, students can meet the teacher outside the class in order to seek clarification and explanations, to debate a theme, or to seek guidance for the research assignment.

Learning Outcomes

O1. To know how to structure a multi-criteria evaluation model.

O2. To know and apply multi-criteria evaluation of very different types.

O3. To recognize there exist many multicriteria evaluation methodologies, each one with its advantages and shortcomings, while being able to sustain why some methodologies are more adequate than others.

O4. To be able to conduct decision processes involving multiple criteria, either as a decision maker or as a process consultant, using appropriate methods.

These learning outcomes contribute to develop several generic skills, namely those of critical reasoning, analysis and synthesis, problem solving, information interpretation and management, and group interaction.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

This course addresses the art and science of dealing with multiple objectives or decision criteria (multi-criteria analysis). The decision support methodologies are presented from a critical perspective, emphasizing parameter setting and results communication. The themes to be studied are:

1. the structuring stage: actors, problematics, actions and criteria.

2. methods based on value functions and outranking methods (ELECTRE and other).

3. panorama of methods and software for multicriteria evaluation.

Head Lecturer(s)

Luís Miguel Cândido Dias

Assessment Methods

Evaluation
Individual assignment of studying and presenting a multicriteria evaluation software : 50.0%
Research assignment for groups : 50.0%

Bibliography