PREFDIS: a multicriteria decision support system for sorting decision problems

This paper, following the methodological framework of multicriteria decision aid (MCDA), presents the PREFDIS (PREFerence DIScrimination) multicriteria decision support system to study sorting decision problems. The main characteristic and a major advantage of the system is the incorporation into its model base of four MCDA methods originating from the preference-disaggregation approach, namely the UTADIS method (UTilites Additives DIScriminantes) and three of its variants, referred to as UTADIS I, UTADIS II and UTADIS III. Using these methods, the decision maker (DM) can develop interactively powerful additive utility models to sort a set of alternatives into two pr more predefined classes as accurately as possible, based on different sorting techniques. Furthermore, the system provides enriched preference modeling capabilities, including the modeling of non-monotone preferences; The friendly window-based user interface of the system enables the decision maker/user to take full advantage of the capabilities of the system in order to make effective real-time decisions. Scope and purpose The sorting problem refers to the assignment of a finite set of alternatives (actions, objects) to predefined ordered classes. Several real-world decision problems are addressed through the sorting approach, including financial decision-making problems, environmental decisions, marketing decisions, and even medical decisions (medical diagnosis). For several decades the sorting (discrimination) among two or more sets of objects has been studied from the multivariate statistical point of view. Recently, the possibilities of new approaches such as expert systems, neural networks, mathematical programming, multicriteria decision aid (MCDA), etc., have bean explored, in order to study the sorting problem within a more: flexible framework and to develop sorting models with higher discriminating and predicting ability. This paper presents the PREFDIS (PREFerence DISiscrimination) multicriteria decision support system for the study of sorting decision problems. The system incorporating four MCDA sorting methods enables the decision maker to develop interactively, in real time, additive utility models to sort a set of alternatives into two or more predefined classes. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.