An Application of Fuzzy Decision-Making Method in Examining the Quality of Residential Environment

Abstract

Central to the paradigm of decision making is the assumption, often unstated, that each of the judgements called for in an analysis can be represented accurately by a single precise number. Indeed, if the decisionmaker consistently satisfied Savage axioms, that would be the case. But, as Savage himself noted, judgments of the magnitude of personal probabilities are generally somewhat vague. The problem here is how to handle imprecision. Zadeh has argued strongly for over a decade that applications of systems science to the study of systems involving humans are often unsuccessful primarily because the methodologies used demand very high levels of precision in measuring variables and in describing how they are related. In group decision-making, it seems rather important to analyze the group dynamics and to refine the information available for decisionmakers to help their mutual understanding. Therefore in this study, uncertainty in input variables and its impact on results are characterized with an application of fuzzy set theory. The methodological focus of this study is on making decisions when there are conflicting objectives and the value of each input variable is uncertain. With this in mind, this study was conducted with the following purpose: to evaluate the quality of the residential environment using both crisp and fuzzy set, and to examine the usefulness of the fuzzy set through the comparison of the evaluation results. In addition, the stated method was applied to the assessment of the residential environment in the urban core of Seoul in Korea.