Decision Sciences Journal
Volume 30, Number 2
Spring 1999
Chainwise Paired Comparisons
Jang W. Ra
Engineering & Science Management Graduate Program, School
of Engineering,
University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK 99508, e-mail:
afjwr@uaa.alaska.edu
ABSTRACT
The pairwise comparison technique is a building block of the
Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which has been popularly used
for multicriteria decision analysis. This paper develops a shortcut
technique in which only n paired comparisons forming a closed
chain are needed for n decision elements. Together with the development
of a simple and intuitive measure of (in)consistency, this technique
derives the relative weights of decision elements via easy step-by-step
calculations on a spreadsheet format. Its performance has been
tested on Saaty’s wealth of nations example. It is important
to notice that ranking and weights yielded from this alternative
technique are identical to Harker’s incomplete pairwise
comparison solution for the same chain orientation for the example
tested.
Subject Areas: AHP, Measure of Consistency, and Multicriteria
Decision Making. |