An ordinal multi-criteria decision-making procedure under imprecise linguistic assessments

Producción CientíficaMany decision-making problems such as quality control analysis, market surveys or sensory analysis require ordered qualitative scales, rather than numerical ones. It is very common to assign some cardinal mathematical objects, such as numerical values, intervals of real numbers or fuzzy numbers, to the linguistic terms of ordered qualitative scales. However, when agents perceive that the psychological proximity between each pair of consecutive terms of the scale is not identical, these conversions are meaningless and an ordinal approach to deal with these non-uniform ordered qualitative scales is more appropriate. The aim of this paper is to introduce an ordinal multi-criteria decision-making procedure for ranking alternatives in the setting of ordered qualitative scales that are nonnecessarily uniform. The possibility of doubt is also considered, by allowing agents to assign two consecutive terms of the scale when they hesitate. The proposed procedure is applied to a real case study in which nine experts assessed eight wines regarding different criteria.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (project ECO2016-77900-P )European Regional Development Fund (ERDF

Managing the Smiley Face Scale Used by Booking.com in an Ordinal Way

Producción CientíficaUser reviews are a new source of information in the hospitality and tourism sector. Usually, these reviews contain comments of users and assessments expressed through ordered qualitative scales. The website Booking.com uses a smiley face scale to ask users the degree of satisfaction regarding several aspects of accommodations. The scoring system of the website assigns numerical values to each item of the smiley face scale. However, when users perceive different proximities between pairs of items of an ordered qualitative scale, these numerical codifications are because they may misrepresent the original ordinal information. In this paper, we analyze the drawbacks and limitations of the scoring system of Booking.com and we manage its smiley face scale through a purely ordinal procedure. This procedure avoids assigning numerical codifications to items of scales and it takes into account how users perceive the proximities between pairs of items. The findings show the importance of considering how users understand qualitative scales when they face subjective assessments through ordered qualitative scales

Ordinal treatment of qualitative scales used by the Center for Sociological Research

Las escalas cualitativas formadas por términos lingüísticos son utilizadas por diversas disciplinas para determinar preferencias y diversos aspectos de la vida de los individuos. Aunque es habitual asignar números a las categorías de respuesta de estas escalas, no es adecuado utilizar codificaciones numéricas cuando los individuos perciben proximidades psicológicas distintas entre las categorías consecutivas de la escala, es decir, cuando las escalas cualitativas no son uniformes. En este trabajo se propone un procedimiento ordinal para jerarquizar un conjunto de alternativas a partir de las valoraciones mostradas por un grupo de individuos mediante una escala cualitativa no necesariamente uniforme. Dicho procedimiento está basado en las proximidades ordinales entre las categorías de respuesta de las escalas. El procedimiento propuesto se ilustra con un ejemplo tomado del Barómetro del Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS) de mayo de 2011.Qualitative scales formed by linguistic terms are used by different disciplines to determine preferences and different aspects of individuals¿ lives. Although it is usual to assign numbers to the response categories of scales, it is not suitable when individuals perceive different proximities between the consecutive categories of the scale, that is, when scales are not uniform. In this paper, an ordinal procedure is proposed to order a set of alternatives from the assessments given by a group of individuals through a qualitative scale not necessarily uniform. This procedure is based on ordinal proximities between the response categories of scales. The proposed procedure is illustrated with an example taken from the Barometer of the Center for Sociological Research of May 2011.Universidad Pablo de Olavid

Tratamiento ordinal de las escalas cualitativas utilizadas por el Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas

Qualitative scales formed by linguistic terms are used by different disciplines to determine preferences and different aspects of individuals’ lives. Although it is usual to assign numbers to the response categories of scales, it is not suitable when individuals perceive different proximities between the consecutive categories of the scale, that is, when scales are not uniform. In this paper, an ordinal procedure is proposed to order a set of alternatives from the assessments given by a group of individuals through a qualitative scale not necessarily uniform. This procedure is based on ordinal proximities between the response categories of scales. The proposed procedure is illustrated with an example taken from the Barometer of the Center for Sociological Research of May 2011.Las escalas cualitativas formadas por términos lingüísticos son utilizadas por diversas disciplinas para determinar preferencias y diversos aspectos de la vida de los individuos. Aunque es habitual asignar números a las categorías de respuesta de estas escalas, no es adecuado utilizar codificaciones numéricas cuando los individuos perciben proximidades psicológicas distintas entre las categorías consecutivas de la escala, es decir, cuando las escalas cualitativas no son uniformes. En este trabajo se propone un procedimiento ordinal para jerarquizar un conjunto de alternativas a partir de las valoraciones mostradas por un grupo de individuos mediante una escala cualitativa no necesariamente uniforme. Dicho procedimiento está basado en las proximidades ordinales entre las categorías de respuesta de las escalas. El procedimiento propuesto se ilustra con un ejemplo tomado del Barómetro del Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS) de mayo de 2011

Customers satisfaction in pediatric inpatient services: A multiple criteria satisfaction analysis

Objective: To assess customer satisfaction determinants in a public pediatric inpatient service and propose some strategies to enhance the consumer and customer experience. Methods: We applied a Multiple Criteria Customer Satisfaction Analysis to estimate the value functions associated with each satisfaction (sub)criterion and determine the corresponding weights. We characterized satisfaction criteria (according to the Kano’s model), estimated the customers’ demanding nature and the potential improvements, and proposed strategic priorities and opportunities to enhance customer satisfaction. Main findings: Strategies for satisfaction enhancement do not depend solely on the criteria with the lowest satisfaction levels and the estimated weights, each criterion’s nature, the customers’ demanding nature, and the technical margin for improvements. Conclusions: Areas deserving attention include clinical staff’s communication skills, the non-clinical professionals’ efficiency, availability, and kindness; food quality; visits’ scheduling and quantity; and facilities’ comfort.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio