Abstract
In this paper we study, by means of numerical simulations, the influence of some relevant factors on the Rank Reversal phenomenon in the Analytic Hierarchy Process, AHP. We consider both the case of a single decision maker and the case of group decision making. The idea is to focus on a condition which preserves Rank Reversal, RR in the following, and progressively relax it. First, we study how the estimated probability of RR depends on the distribution of the criteria weights and, more precisely, on the entropy of this distribution. In fact, it is known that RR does’nt occur if all the weights are concentrated in a single criterion, i.e. the zero entropy case. We derive an interesting increasing behavior of the RR estimated probability as a function of weights entropy. Second, we focus on the aggregation method of the local weight vectors. Barzilay and Golany proved that the weighted geometric mean preserves from RR. By using the usual weighted arithmetic mean suggested in AHP, on the contrary, RR may occur. Therefore, we use the more general aggregation rule based on the weighted power mean, where the weighted geometric mean and the weighted arithmetic mean are particular cases obtained for the values \(p \rightarrow 0\) and \(p=1\) of the power parameter p respectively. By studying the RR probability as a function of parameter p, we again obtain a monotonic behavior. Finally, we repeat our study in the case of a group decision making problem and we observe that the estimated probability of RR decreases by aggregating the DMs’ preferences. This fact suggests an inverse relationship between consensus and rank reversal. Note that we assume that all judgements are totally consistent, so that the effect of inconsistency is avoided.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Aczél J, Saaty TL (1983) Procedures for synthesizing ratio judgments. J Math Psychol 27:93–102
Aguaròn J, Moreno-Jimènez JM (2003) The geometric consistency index: approximated threshold. Eur J Oper Res 147:137–145
Bana e Costa CA, Vansnick J-C (2008) A critical analysis of the eigenvalue method used to derive priorities in AHP. Eur J Oper Res 187:1422–1428
Barzilai J (2010) Preference function modelling: the mathematical foundations of decision theory. In: Ehrgott M, Figueira JR, Greco S (eds) Trends in multiple criteria decision analysis. Springer
Barzilai J, Golany B (1994) AHP rank reversal, normalization and aggregation rules. INFOR: Inf Syst Oper Res 32(2):57–64
Belton V, Gear AE (1983) On a short-coming of Saaty’s method of analytic hierarchies. Omega 11:228–230
Belton V, Stewart T (2002) Multiple criteria decision analysis: an integrated approach. Springer
Choo EU, Wedley WC (2004) A common framework for deriving preference values from pairwise comparison matrices. Comput Oper Res 31:893–908
Crawford G, Williams C (1985) A note on the analysis of subjective judgement matrices. J Math Psychol 29:25–40
Dede G, Kamalakis T, Sphicopoulos T (2015) Convergence properties and practical estimation of the probability of rank reversal in pairwise comparisons for multi-criteria decision making problems. Eur J Oper Res 241:458–468
Forman E, Peniwati K (1998) Aggregating individual judgments and priorities with the analytic hierarchy process. Eur J Oper Res 108:165–169
Forman EH, Gass SI (2001) The analytic hierarchy process-an exposition. Oper Res 49:469–486
Maleki H, Zahir S (2013) A comprehensive literature review of the rank reversal phenomenon in the analytic hierarchy process. J Multi-Criteria Decis Anal 20:141–155
Ossadnik W, Schinke S, Kaspar RH (2016) Group aggregation techniques for analytic hierarchy process and analytic network process: a comparative analysis. Group Decis Negot 25(2):421–457
Raharjo H, Endah D (2006) Evaluating relationship of consistency ratio and number of alternatives on rank reversal in the AHP. Qual Eng 18(1):39–46
Saaty TL (1977) A scaling method for priorities in hierarchical structures. J Math Psychol 15:234–281
Saaty TL, Vargas LG (1984) The legitimacy of rank reversal. Omega 12:513–516
Saaty TL (1994) Highlights and critical points in the theory and application of the analytic hierarchy process. Eur J Oper Res 74:426–447
Smith JE, von Winterfeldt D (2004) Decision analysis in management science. Manage Sci 50:561–574
Triantaphyllou E (2001) Two new cases of rank reversals when the AHP and some of its additive variants are used that do not occur with the multiplicative AHP. J Multi-Criteria Decis Anal 10:11–25
Van Den Honert RC, Lootsma FA (1996) Group preference aggregation in the multiplicative AHP The model of the group decision process and Pareto optimality. Eur J Oper Res 96:363–370
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fedrizzi, M., Giove, S., Predella, N. (2018). Rank Reversal in the AHP with Consistent Judgements: A Numerical Study in Single and Group Decision Making. In: Collan, M., Kacprzyk, J. (eds) Soft Computing Applications for Group Decision-making and Consensus Modeling. Studies in Fuzziness and Soft Computing, vol 357. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60207-3_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60207-3_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60206-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60207-3
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)