Multi-objective Decision Analysis

Preference Weights

Preference weights are weighting factors that are applied to each of the evaluation measures. Preference weights are like probabilities, in that they are numbers between zero and one and the sum of the decision weights across all of the evaluation measures must equal one.

Preference weights serve two purposes–(a) they address the different ranges of variation in the evaluation measures and (b) they address the different degrees of importance the decision maker attaches to the ranges of variation.7 Evaluation measures usually have different ranges of variation. For example, one evaluation measure, net annual profit, measured in dollars, may range from $10 million to $50 million. Another evaluation measure, company image, measured ...