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Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis (SMAA)

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Trends in Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis

Part of the book series: International Series in Operations Research & Management Science ((ISOR,volume 142))

Abstract

Stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis (SMAA) is a family of methods for aiding multicriteria group decision making in problems with uncertain, imprecise or partially missing information. These methods are based on exploring the weight space in order to describe the preferences that make each alternative the most preferred one, or that would give a certain rank for a specific alternative. The main results of the analysis are rank acceptability indices, central weight vectors and confidence factors for different alternatives. The rank acceptability indices describe the variety of different preferences resulting in a certain rank for an alternative, the central weight vectors represent the typical preferences favouring each alternative, and the confidence factors measure whether the criteria measurements are sufficiently accurate for making an informed decision. A general approach for applying SMAA in real-life decision problems is to use it repetitively with more and more accurate information until the information is sufficient for making a decision. Between the analyses, information can be added by making more accurate criteria measurements, or assessing the DMs’ preferences more accurately in terms of various preference parameters.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Energy Technology, Helsinki University of Technology, Otakaari 4, Helsinki, FIN-02015 TKK, Finland

    Risto Lahdelma

  2. Department of Information Technology, University of Turku, Joukahaisenkatu 3-5, FIN-20520, Turku, Finland

    Risto Lahdelma

  3. School of Business and Economics, University of Jyväskylä, 35, FIN-40014, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Pekka Salminen

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  1. Risto Lahdelma
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  2. Pekka Salminen
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Correspondence to Pekka Salminen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Engineering Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Matthias Ehrgott

  2. Depto. Engenharia e Gestao, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Av. Prof.Dr. Cavaco Silva, Porto Salvo, 2780-990, Portugal

    José Rui Figueira

  3. Faculty of Economics, University of Catania, Corso Italia 55, Catania, 95129, Italy

    Salvatore Greco

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Lahdelma, R., Salminen, P. (2010). Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis (SMAA). In: Ehrgott, M., Figueira, J., Greco, S. (eds) Trends in Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 142. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5904-1_10

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