Hierarchy Of Criteria Research Articles

The relative importance of children’s criteria for representational adequacy in the perception of simple sonic stimuli

This study investigates children’s metarepresentational competence (MRC) with regard to listening to and making sense of simple sonic stimuli. Using diSessa’s (2002) seminal work on MRC in mathematics and sciences as background, it aims to assess the relative importance children attribute to several criteria for representational adequacy of graphical representations of sonic stimuli, as well as to investigate the impact of children’s age and music background on their valuations of the relative importance of these criteria. Four groups of children (8–9- and 11–12-year-olds with and without extra music education) were exposed to short and simple sonic fragments. For each fragment they received a set of pairs of representations from which they had to choose one from each pair. The representations were organized in pairs of opposites for two of the four representational criteria involved in the study (correctness, formality, transparency, and neatness). The findings revealed a development in children’s personal hierarchies of representational criteria with growing age and musical education towards the following ranking: (1) correctness; (2) neatness; (3) formality; and (4) transparency. Theoretical, methodological, and educational implications are discussed.

Multiple Criteria Hierarchy Process in Robust Ordinal Regression

A great majority of methods designed for Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA) assume that all evaluation criteria are considered at the same level, however, it is often the case that a practical application is imposing a hierarchical structure of criteria. The hierarchy helps decomposing complex decision making problems into smaller and manageable subtasks, and thus, it is very attractive for users. To handle the hierarchy of criteria in MCDA, we propose a methodology called Multiple Criteria Hierarchy Process (MCHP) which permits consideration of preference relations with respect to a subset of criteria at any level of the hierarchy. MCHP can be applied to any MCDA method. In this paper, we apply MCHP to Robust Ordinal Regression (ROR) being a family of MCDA methods that takes into account all sets of parameters of an assumed preference model, which are compatible with preference information elicited by a Decision Maker (DM). As a result of ROR, one gets necessary and possible preference relations in the set of alternatives, which hold for all compatible sets of parameters or for at least one compatible set of parameters, respectively. Applying MCHP to ROR one gets to know not only necessary and possible preference relations with respect to the whole set of criteria, but also necessary and possible preference relations related to subsets of criteria at different levels of the hierarchy. We also show how MCHP can be extended to handle group decision and interactions among criteria.

Learning with ordinal-bounded memory from positive data

A bounded example memory learner operates incrementally and maintains a memory of finitely many data items. The paradigm is well-studied and known to coincide with set-driven learning. A hierarchy of stronger and stronger learning criteria had earlier been obtained when one considers, for each k∈N, iterative learners that can maintain a memory of at most k previously processed data items. We investigate an extension of the paradigm into the constructive transfinite. For this purpose we use Kleeneʼs universal ordinal notation system O. To each ordinal notation in O one can associate a learning criterion in which the number of times a learner can extend its example memory is bounded by an algorithmic count-down from the notation. We prove a general hierarchy result: if b is larger than a in Kleeneʼs system, then learners that extend their example memory “at most b times” can learn strictly more than learners that can extend their example memory “at most a times”. For notations for ordinals below ω2 the result only depends on the ordinals and is notation-independent. For higher ordinals it is notation-dependent. In the setting of learners with ordinal-bounded memory, we also study the impact of requiring that a learner cannot discard an element from memory without replacing it with a new one. A learner satisfying this condition is called cumulative.

Estimation, modeling, and aggregation of missing survey data for prioritizing customer voices

It is widely acknowledged that understanding and prioritizing the voice of customer is a critical step in new product development. In this work, we propose a novel approach to handle missing and incomplete data while combining information from different surveys for prioritizing customer voices. Our new approach comprises of the following stages: estimating and representing missing and incomplete data; estimating intervals for the criteria used in analyzing data; mapping data on criteria to a common scale; modeling interval data using interval belief structure; and aggregating evidence and ranking customer voices using the interval evidential reasoning algorithm. We demonstrate our approach using a case study from automotive domain with a given criteria hierarchy for analyzing data from three different surveys. We propose new optimization formulations for estimating intervals of the criteria used in our case study and logical yet pragmatic transformation functions for mapping criteria values to a common scale.

A new spatial multi-criteria decision support tool for site selection for implementation of managed aquifer recharge

This study reports the development of a new spatial multi-criteria decision analysis (SMCDA) software tool for selecting suitable sites for Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) systems. The new SMCDA software tool functions based on the combination of existing multi-criteria evaluation methods with modern decision analysis techniques. More specifically, non-compensatory screening, criteria standardization and weighting, and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) have been combined with Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) and Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA). This SMCDA tool may be implemented with a wide range of decision maker's preferences. The tool's user-friendly interface helps guide the decision maker through the sequential steps for site selection, those steps namely being constraint mapping, criteria hierarchy, criteria standardization and weighting, and criteria overlay. The tool offers some predetermined default criteria and standard methods to increase the trade-off between ease-of-use and efficiency. Integrated into ArcGIS, the tool has the advantage of using GIS tools for spatial analysis, and herein data may be processed and displayed. The tool is non-site specific, adaptive, and comprehensive, and may be applied to any type of site-selection problem. For demonstrating the robustness of the new tool, a case study was planned and executed at Algarve Region, Portugal. The efficiency of the SMCDA tool in the decision making process for selecting suitable sites for MAR was also demonstrated. Specific aspects of the tool such as built-in default criteria, explicit decision steps, and flexibility in choosing different options were key features, which benefited the study. The new SMCDA tool can be augmented by groundwater flow and transport modeling so as to achieve a more comprehensive approach to the selection process for the best locations of the MAR infiltration basins, as well as the locations of recovery wells and areas of groundwater protection. The new spatial multicriteria analysis tool has already been implemented within the GIS based Gabardine decision support system as an innovative MAR planning tool.

Mapping the User Experience: Development of a Validated Instrument from the Plans and Scripts of the Computer Community of Practice

A plethora of surveys for assessing computer use for usability or technology acceptance exist today. This article discusses the Systems Acceptance Indicator, a validated survey instrument for assessing the user experience from a cognitive- ergonomic perspective. The action research discussed in this paper utilized grounded theory analysis to establish the data-driven emergent theoretical constructs that provided the system acceptance categories (criteria) for the survey. These data-driven emergent theoretical constructs were the basis for the proposed theoretical abstraction hierarchy of the survey criteria. Principle component analysis of the survey data produced an abstraction hierarchy identical to the theoretical model. This result confirmed the alignment of the human-computer interaction theoretical constructs with the data-driven emergent theory. The intent behind the human-computer interaction theoretical rationale for the emergent abstraction hierarchy was to provide a consistent and repeatable interpretation of the user response to the survey.

Consensus Statement on Diagnostic End Points for Infant Tuberculosis Vaccine Trials

Definition of clinical trial end points for childhood tuberculosis is hindered by lack of a standard case definition. We aimed to identify areas of consensus or debate on potential end points for tuberculosis vaccine trials among human immunodeficiency virus-uninfected children. Thirty-eight opinion leaders participated in a Consensus Workshop at the Second Global Forum on TB Vaccines (Estonia, 2010). Outcomes were categorized as unanimity, modified consensus, or lack of consensus. Individual reservations were noted. Modified consensus was achieved on 3 issues: (1) unsuitability of historical BCG trial end points as sole primary end points for modern infant trials; (2) symptomatic, complicated intrathoracic tuberculosis as an uncommon but clinically relevant disease phenotype; (3) primary complex tuberculosis in younger children as a common, high-risk phenotype, with a high rate of spontaneous resolution. Participants agreed that radiologic diagnosis of intrathoracic tuberculosis would be based primarily on hilar lymphadenopathy. Lack of consensus was noted for (1) significance of isolated culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and (2) the need for evidence of prior tuberculosis exposure to support a diagnosis of tuberculosis disease. Reservations were expressed regarding use of interferon-γ release assays and the clinical relevance, and potential for misclassification, of primary complex tuberculosis. The Workshop did not achieve consensus on a single primary end-point definition. Tuberculosis disease phenotypes with optimal diagnostic certainty will be uncommon in the study population. Criteria for composite or multiple end points were identified, and we propose a hierarchy of end-point criteria, based on rate of occurrence, clinical relevance, and diagnostic certainty.

Assessment of health-care waste treatment alternatives using fuzzy multi-criteria decision making approaches

Health-care waste (HCW) management is a high priority environmental, public and health concern in developing countries. The management and treatment of HCW are gaining more attention with the rising awareness. The objective of this research is to propose multi-criteria decision making techniques for conducting an analysis based on multi-level hierarchical structure and fuzzy logic for the evaluation of HCW treatment alternatives. The ideal and anti-ideal solutions are taken into consideration simultaneously in the developed approaches to account for the individuals’ desire to be both as close as possible to the ideal and as distant as possible from the anti-ideal. The proposed decision approaches enable the decision-makers to use linguistic terms, and thus, reduce their cognitive burden in the evaluation process. Furthermore, a hierarchy of evaluation criteria and their related sub-criteria is employed in the presented approaches in order to conduct a more effective analysis. The computational procedures of the proposed frameworks are illustrated through a case study in Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey that is also listed among the world's most crowded cities. The HCW treatment alternatives considered in this study include “incineration”, “steam sterilization”, “microwave” and “landfill”. The results obtained using the proposed decision approaches are analyzed in a comparative way.

Hierarchy of insomnia criteria based on daytime consequences

To explore how insomnia symptoms are hierarchically organized in individuals reporting daytime consequences of their sleep disturbances. This is a cross-sectional study conducted in the general population of the states of California, New York, and Texas. The sample included 8937 individuals aged 18 years or older representative of the general population. Telephone interviews on sleep habits and disorders were managed with the Sleep-EVAL expert system and using DSM-IV and ICSD classifications. Insomnia symptoms and global sleep dissatisfaction (GSD) had to occur at least three times per week for at least three months. A total of 26.2% of the sample had a GSD. Individuals with GSD reported at least one insomnia symptom in 73.1% of the cases. The presence of GSD in addition to insomnia symptoms considerably increased the proportion of individuals with daytime consequences related to insomnia. In the classification trees performed, GSD arrived as the first predictor for daytime consequences related to insomnia. The second predictor was nonrestorative sleep followed by difficulty resuming sleep and difficulty initiating sleep. Classification trees are a useful way to hierarchically organize symptoms and to help diagnostic classifications. In this study, GSD was found to be the foremost symptom in identifying individuals with daytime consequences related to insomnia.

Taxonomy of DoS attacks and their countermeasures

Abstract DoS attacks can vary in type, depending on many different criteria, as well as their countermeasures. Detailed taxonomy can help distinguish all possible types and be used for better understanding of the situation. This study reviews existing DoS attack and DoS attack countermeasure classifications and offers new classification schemes. The proposed DoS attack taxonomy has a new attack characteristic, which describes how bug exploitation can be used for DoS attack execution, as well as new possible values for resource depletion attack and the ways of agent army formation. We also clarify methods for DoS effect achievement and position them in the DoS taxonomy hierarchy. While for DoS attack countermeasure taxonomy we combine ideas from existing taxonomies and compose a three criteria hierarchy with average detailing level. All criteria and categories are described, and seven DoS attack and seven DoS attack countermeasure taxonomies are analysed to obtain their characteristics. Some research is also done to show their application capabilities.

Motor activity of protozoa: Position of motor activity in the hierarchy of environmental bioassay criteria

Stable dose-independent behavioral modification in the infusorium Spirostomum ambiguum immediately after the exposure to γ-radiation in a broad dosage range has been shown in model experiments. Negative effect is observed already at a dose of 0.01 Gy and is inherited through several generations of spirostoma. Decreased motor activity is accompanied by morphological pathology, the manifestation of which is also dose-independent in a broad range of low doses. The possibility of express evaluation of changes in the motor activity of protozoa for the biotesting of radioactive contamination of the environment, as well as the prognostic character of this study, is under discussion.

Moral Judgment Test (MJT) in Urdu: Translation and Validation

The present study was conducted as part of a larger study that aimed to compare moral judgment competence and moral preferences among Pakistani students of public and private sector educational institutes and religious institutes and also to measure the pattern of development of moral judgment competence of students within these institutes. The validation study completed in two phases, during the 1st phase data were collected from the students of grade 8 to 16 from public sector schools and colleges of Rawalpindi city. Very low mean c-score was observed (M = 13.60, SD = 9.05), the test came out to be valid on preference hierarchy criterion but its validity on the cognitive-affective parallelism and Quasi- simplex structure criteria could not be established due to low c-scores of the sample. In the second phase an additional sample from one private sector and two public sector universities was collected. The analysis of the combined sample (N = 246) showed no significant improvement of c-scores (M = 13.94, SD = 9.53). The test meets well the preference hierarchy criterion but on the other two criteria results remain inconclusive due to low variance in the sample. The low c-scores are explained on the basis of three assumptions; (1) poor quality of education, (2) dogmatic religiosity, and (3) weak and instable political structure of Pakistani society.

ABOUT ONE APPROACH TO AHP/ANP STABILITY MEASUREMENT

<p>AHP/ANP stability measurement methods are described. In this paper we define the method's stability as the measure of its results dependence on the expert's errors, made during pair comparisons. Ranking Stability (order preservation in alternative ranking under natural expert's errors, made during expert estimation) and Estimating Stability (maintaining alternative weights within the specified maximal relative inaccuracy range) are considered. Targeted Genetic Algorithm search procedure is used for possible stability violation detection. Then division-in-half (dichotomy) method is applied to calculate stability metric of a given criteria hierarchy.</p><p>http://dx.doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v3i1.50</p>

Weapon System Capability Assessment under uncertainty based on the evidential reasoning approach

Weapon System Capability Assessment (WSCA) is the initial point of quantification of capabilities in the military capability planning (MCP). WSCA is often a multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) problem with both quantitative and qualitative information under uncertain environment. In this paper, the analysis process and algorithm for WSCA problem is proposed on the basis of belief structure (BS) model and evidential reasoning (ER) approach which were developed to deal with various types of uncertainties such as ignorance and subjectiveness. First of all, the WSCA criteria hierarchy is built by analyzing how the capability is measured. Secondly, a weapon system capability model is formulated using BS. Thirdly, both qualitative and quantitative information involved in capability measure are transformed into BSs by the data transformation algorithm based on rules. Then, the analytical ER approach is used to aggregate the capability measurement information from sub-capability criteria to top-capability criterion, and the assessed weapon systems are ranked and analyzed according to utility intervals. Finally, a case study of real Main Battle Tank capability assessment is explored to show the proposed process for WSCA.

Optimal selection of full scale tannery effluent treatment alternative using integrated AHP and GRA approach

The selection of optimal wastewater treatment alternative involves multiple objectives and/or criteria and hierarchy process. This study integrates analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and grey relation analysis (GRA) for optimal selection of full scale tannery effluent treatment plants. For this purpose, seven tanneries and their effluent treatment facilities are studied in detail in Southern India. The objective hierarchy criterion is considered based on three factors; economic, technical, and administrative, each of which again involves hierarchy of indices. A realistic treatment alternative selection is obtained since all the data used is on actual basis. The biggest advantage of this approach is that it provides the information regarding the scope for further improvement in existing treatment options. The study indicates that the AHP and grey relation analysis are powerful tools that can be used for implementation of appropriate wastewater treatment technology.

Experimental Analysis of Bolted Steel Beam-to-Column Connections: Component Identification

In this paper, the results of an experimental program dealing with the ultimate behavior of bolted beam-to-column connections under cyclic actions are presented. The design criteria adopted for tested specimens are discussed in detail, aiming to point out how the ultimate behavior can be governed by properly strengthening the components for which yielding has to be prevented. To this scope, the component approach is adopted as a design tool for component hierarchy criteria. The aim of the paper is the investigation of the actual possibility of extending the component approach to the prediction of the cyclic response of beam-to-column joints. To this scope, the attention has been focused on the possibility to evaluate the overall energy dissipation capacity starting from the energy dissipation of the single joint components, provided that they are properly identified and their cyclic behavior is properly measured.

Aksjologia Rene Le Senne'a a aksjologia Józefa Tischnera.

The article deals with the philosophy of Le Senne in which man is determined by character and by values. The self results from relation to values. Cognition of God does not create conceptual metaphysics, but it is human act directed to the value. The author claims that Le Senne’s metaphysic is the axiology but without the hierarchy of values and criteria. The source of value is God who is not summum esse but Value. For Le Senne value and not being is a priority. That is the one of many similarities to Tischner’s philosophy.

An integrated approach to the optimal selection of security tools using analytic hierarchy process and goal programming

The internet and local area networks, which are growing rapidly, have witnessed an increase in malicious threads. Therefore, the deployment of security tools is necessary for protecting organisations from external attacks on their information systems, preventing information losses and ensuring secure communication. To this end, the primary objective of this paper is to propose an enhanced methodology for supporting the decision maker in selecting the appropriate security tools for information systems in organisations. First, we construct a security criteria hierarchy as the decision criteria. Then, based on the criteria, we compute the competitiveness score of each security tool and the relative weights among different types of security tools utilising an analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Finally, in order to incorporate a trade-off between all the competitiveness aspects associated with the security tools and costs, a prioritising/weighting mixed integer goal programming (GP) model or a combination of mixed integer GP and weighted-sum model to determine the optimal solutions for the security tools is employed.

A multicriteria decision making model for reverse logistics using analytical hierarchy process

Product recovery activities such as recycling, refurbishing and direct reuse are becoming integral to manufacturing supply chains. This study presents a multicriteria decision making model for reverse logistics using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The AHP model evaluates a hierarchy of criteria and subcriteria, including costs and business relations, for critical decisions regarding network design. Using sensitivity analysis with AHP, the work provides insights into the preference ordering among eight alternative network configurations. For instance, the choice of test sites is largely dependent on the potential for cost savings on testing procedures and transportation of scrap, and this decision is not sensitive to the importance of business relations. By contrast, the choice of collection sites is largely determined by the relative importance of business relations considerations vs. cost considerations. As well, the processing location decision favors a third-party reprocessor if there is little need to protect proprietary product knowledge and cost savings is very important. The model is demonstrated using three case studies of real-world applications.

Multi-criteria decision making with fuzzy linguistic preference relations

Although the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the extent analysis method (EAM) of fuzzy AHP are extensively adopted in diverse fields, inconsistency increases as hierarchies of criteria or alternatives increase because AHP and EAM require rather complicated pairwise comparisons amongst elements (attributes or alternatives). Additionally, decision makers normally find that assigning linguistic variables to judgments is simpler and more intuitive than to fixed value judgments. Hence, Wang and Chen proposed fuzzy linguistic preference relations (Fuzzy LinPreRa) to address the above problem. This study adopts Fuzzy LinPreRa to re-examine three numerical examples. The re-examination is intended to compare our results with those obtained in earlier works and to demonstrate the advantages of Fuzzy LinPreRa. This study demonstrates that, in addition to reducing the number of pairwise comparisons, Fuzzy LinPreRa also increases decision making efficiency and accuracy.