Abstract
High competition between universities has been increasing over the years, and stimulates higher education institutions to attain higher positions in the ranking list. Ranking is an important performance indicator of university status evaluation, and therefore plays an essential role in students’ university selection. The ranking of universities has been carried out using different techniques. Main goal of decision processes in real-life problems is to deal with the symmetry or asymmetry of different types of information. We consider that multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) is well applicable to symmetric information modelling. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a well-known technique of MCDM discipline, and is based on pairwise comparisons of criteria/alternatives for alternatives’ evaluation. Unfortunately, the classical AHP method is unable to deal with imprecise, vague, and subjective information used for the decision making process in complex problems. So, introducing a more advanced tool for decision making under such circumstances is inevitable. In this paper, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) is applied for the comparison and ranking of performances of five UK universities, according to four criteria. The criteria used for the evaluation of universities’ performances are teaching, research, citations, and international outlook. It is proven that applying FAHP approach makes the system consistent, and by the calculation of coefficient of variation for all alternatives, it becomes possible to rank them in prioritized order.
Highlights
In the real world, one of the characteristics of being human is having the ability to make appropriate decisions in various situations
fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) approach makes the system consistent, and by the calculation of coefficient of variation for all alternatives, it becomes possible to rank them in prioritized order
Decision making is a process of choosing the best alternative among several ones, by considering specific criteria, and this alternative should be suitable for the preferences or beliefs of the decision maker
Summary
One of the characteristics of being human is having the ability to make appropriate decisions in various situations. These decisions offer benefits and conveniences in every aspect of life. The important elements of decision making process are alternatives and criteria. Decision making is a process of choosing the best alternative among several ones, by considering specific criteria, and this alternative should be suitable for the preferences or beliefs of the decision maker. Uncertainty is a common phenomenon in the real world. Human decisions which include preferences are mostly vague or uncertain. The selection of alternatives is performed under the environment filled by complex and imprecise information. There is a need for a system that provides a reliable and precise solution, while dealing with incomplete and uncertain information
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