An approach to avoiding rank reversal in AHP

Ying Ming Wang; Taha M. S. Elhag

doi:10.1016/j.dss.2005.12.002

An approach to avoiding rank reversal in AHP

Ying Ming Wang^*, Taha M. S. Elhag

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

127 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) has been considerably criticized for possible rank reversal phenomenon caused by the addition or deletion of an alternative. This paper looks into the cause of rank reversal phenomenon and finds that rank reversal is caused by change of local priorities before and after an alternative is added or deleted. An approach is therefore proposed to keep the local priorities unchanged to avoid rank reversal phenomenon. Two well-known numerical examples are re-examined using the proposed approach to demonstrate its validity and practicability in rank preservation.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1474-1480
Number of pages	7
Journal	Decision Support Systems
Volume	42
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2005.12.002
Publication status	Published - Dec 2006

Keywords

Analytic hierarchy process
Multiple criteria decision making
Rank preservation
Rank reversal

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Management Information Systems
Information Systems
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
Information Systems and Management

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10.1016/j.dss.2005.12.002

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abstract = "Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) has been considerably criticized for possible rank reversal phenomenon caused by the addition or deletion of an alternative. This paper looks into the cause of rank reversal phenomenon and finds that rank reversal is caused by change of local priorities before and after an alternative is added or deleted. An approach is therefore proposed to keep the local priorities unchanged to avoid rank reversal phenomenon. Two well-known numerical examples are re-examined using the proposed approach to demonstrate its validity and practicability in rank preservation.",

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AB - Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) has been considerably criticized for possible rank reversal phenomenon caused by the addition or deletion of an alternative. This paper looks into the cause of rank reversal phenomenon and finds that rank reversal is caused by change of local priorities before and after an alternative is added or deleted. An approach is therefore proposed to keep the local priorities unchanged to avoid rank reversal phenomenon. Two well-known numerical examples are re-examined using the proposed approach to demonstrate its validity and practicability in rank preservation.

KW - Analytic hierarchy process

KW - Multiple criteria decision making

KW - Rank preservation

KW - Rank reversal

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An approach to avoiding rank reversal in AHP

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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