Rating the criteria establishes the weights. The criteria is
compared in
a pairwise fashion where only two criteria are rated at a time
by
indicating how much more important one criterion is over the
other.
Alternatively using the right-mouse button the ratings can be
changed
from a relative importance rating to a direct weighting where
specific
values can be entered.
Ratings are made at each level in the hierarchy starting from
the goal
level. When the goal is selected in the hierarchy the
pairwise
combinations of the criteria immediately beneath the goal
is
displayed. Each pair of criteria is rated by selecting a value
of 1 - 9
in the direction of the criterion that is more important.
Ratings can
also be entered as a direct number using the right-click menu
to
change the rating method for a pair.
| 1 | Equally Important |
| 2 | Weakly Better |
| 3 | Weekly Better |
| 4 | Strongly Better |
| 5 | Strongly Better |
| 6 | Very Strongly Better |
| 7 | Very Strongly Better |
| 8 | Absolutely Better |
| 9 | Absolutely Better |
The alternatives are also rated in a similar fashion. When the
lowest
level in the hierarchy is selected a pairwise of the
alternative
combinations will be presented and the ratings are made with
respect
to the criterion.
When a rating is selected the rationale for the rating can be
entered in
the Rationale tab or edited in word.
Using the right-click menu on a selected pairwise the rating
method
can be changed to direct allowing you to enter in direct
numbers, for
example for cost or other criteria pair that there are hard
numbers
for.
When all of the pairs for a level are rated a consistency
index is
calculated to alert you to any major inconsistencies causing
a
reevaluation of the ratings. A consistency index of zero (0)
means the
ratings are perfectly consistent meaning that if A > B and
B > C then
C > A. If C < A then it would be inconsistent with how
you rated A
and B, and B and C. However, AHP does not demand perfect
consistency and a consistence factor of .1 is usually
considered
acceptable.
As the ratings are made the hierarchy icons will change and
present
an icon with check marks. A red check mark means the level
is
complete. Once the model and all of the alternatives have
been
completely rated the entire hierarchy will be flagged with
green check
marks.
|
Completed Level |
Completed Model |
 |
 |
Once the model is complete the results are automatically calculated and can then be analyzed.