A novel approach to multi-attribute decision making based on intuitionistic fuzzy sets

In this paper we present a new approach to solve multi-attribute decision making problems in intuitionistic fuzzy environment. This approach is based on a new ranking method of intuitionistic fuzzy sets, in which the evaluated values (in the form of intervals) of the same alternative with different attributes are considered as one unified entity. According to people's intuition, the ranking method proposed in this paper is mainly grounded on a revised score function and a revised accuracy function of intuitionistic fuzzy sets. Different from the traditional methods, in this new approach, the degree of membership, the degree of nonmembership and the degree of hesitation are considered with various importance in reflecting the true image of the respective alternative. Furthermore, an optimization model is established to estimate the relative degree of importance of each quantity. Finally, two practical examples are provided to illustrate our approach. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.