DS/AHP method: A mathematical analysis, including an understanding of uncertainty

The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was developed to aid decision makers to rank or sort information based on a number of criteria, A recent advance is the DS/AHP method which incorporates the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence with AHP. This method allows judgements on groups of decision alternatives (DA) to be made, it also offers a measure of uncertainty in the final results. In this paper a mathematical analysis of DS/AHP is included, constructing the functional form of the preference weightings given to groups of DA. These functions allow an understanding of the appropriateness of the rating scale values used in the DS/AHP method, through evaluating the range of uncertainty able to be expressed by the decision maker. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.