Integration of interval rough AHP and interval rough MABAC methods for evaluating university web pages

Websites are one of the most widely distributed information resources. Educational institutions use this resource to ensure that the best quality of information transmission is achieved. As such, academic sites have become a very important aspect of academic institutions, one that affects their overall quality. Bearing in mind the importance of university websites' quality, the authors of this paper presented a multi-criteria model for evaluating the quality of university websites. This paper presents the hybrid IR-AHP-MABAC (Interval Rough Analytic Hierarchy Process - MultiAttributive Border Approximation Area Comparison) model. The model is adapted to group decision making as based on the application of a new approach to treating uncertainties through the use of interval rough numbers (IRN). The modified IR-AHP method was used to determine the weight coefficients of the criteria in the group decision-making process. The results of the IR-AHP model are compared with results provided by the traditional AHP method and the fuzzy AHP approach. The IR-MABAC model was used for the evaluation of university websites. In order to verify the results of the IRN based approach, the IR-MABAC model was compared to the F-TOPSIS (Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), F-VIKOR (Fuzzy MultiCriterion Optimization and Compromise Solution), F-COPRAS (Fuzzy COmpressed PRoportional ASsessment), F-MAIRCA (Fuzzy MultiAtributive Ideal-Real Comparative Analysis), and F-TODIM (an acronym of Interactive and Multi Criteria Decision Making in Portuguese) models. The credibility of the IR-AHP-MABAC model was demonstrated by comparing the results of different multi-criteria techniques and analyzing viability. The results of the IRN approach and fuzzy comparison have shown that the new approach to dealing with imprecision yields credible, reputable ranks. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.