A critical look at multiple criteria decision making techniques with reference to forestry applications

Abstract

Solution techniques for multiple criteria decision making are procedures and mathematical algorithms for aiding decision making when multiple criteria are considered. Multiple criteria decision making methods are well suited for ill-structured problems that encompass many of the more vexing problems facing forestry today. A brief review of multiple criteria decision making is presented to serve as background to the present study and to introduce interested readers to the vast multiple criteria decision making literature, including applications in forestry. A comparative study was made to explore some specific issues that have received limited attention in previous multiple criteria decision making studies, including scale transformations, criterion weighting, ranking algorithms, choice of criteria, and specification of alternatives. Methods were compared based on the ranking and degree of discrimination among alternatives for a case study previously published. Recommendations are made regarding the application of multiple criteria decision making techniques to forestry problems.