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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Tucson, Arizona » SWRC » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #92312
Title: A SPREADSHEET IMPLEMENTED HIERARCHIAL MULTI-ATTRIBUTE METHOD WITH APPLICATION TO CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION MAKING

Author
item Yakowitz, Diana
item WEDWICK, S. - AZ. DEPT. OF WATER RES.

Submitted to: Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers International Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/14/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: An algorithm and spreadsheet implementation for computing the value range of an additive value function under a hierarchy of the attributes will be presented. The method can be used to rank alternatives and requires only ordinal ranking of the attributes within and not across sub- groupings. Characteristics of the method make it ideal for use in situations of conflict and environmental decision making. The linear programming-based method has been implemented as a Visual Basic module in Microsoft's Excel(R) spreadsheet. Files are easy to modify for a multitude of applications or scenarios. The algorithm for computing the range of the additive value function is iterative in nature and preserves extreme point information at each level in the hierarchy. The effects of modifications to relative importance of the attributes are easily examined. Multiple alternative hierarchy structures can be compared simultaneously. Multiple states of nature are also easily handled. An application in environmental decision making will be presented.