A probabilistic multiple criteria sorting approach based on distance functions

In this paper, a new probabilistic distance based sorting (PDIS) method is developed for multiple criteria sorting problems. The distance to the ideal point is used as a criteria disaggregation function to determine the values of alternatives. These values are used to sort alternatives into the predefined classes. The method also calculates probabilities that each alternative belong to the predefined classes in order to handle alternative optimal solutions. It is applied to five data sets and its performance is compared with two well-known methods from literature. Computational experiments show that the PDIS method performs better than the other methods. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.