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Quick Start Guide and Tutorials Copyright 2000-2004 Expert Choice, Inc.,
Arlington, VA, USA
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Lesson 8 - Resource Aligner - Resource Allocation 119
Resource Allocation Terminology 119
Resource Aligner - Main Window 121
Discrete Alternative Resource Allocation Optimization (DARA) 123
Discrete Alternative Resource Allocation Example - Hawthorne Valley 123
Activity Level Resource Allocation Optimization 131
Activity Level Resource Allocation Example - Hotspots 132
Resource Aligner Menu Commands 137
Resource Aligner File Menu 137
Resource Aligner Custom Constraints Menu 137
Resource Aligner View Menu 138
Resource Aligner Go To Menu 138
Dependencies 139
Funding Pools 140
Groups 141
Colon Notation for Activity Level Resource Allocation 143
Risks 143
Increasing Budgets 144
Lesson 9 - About Reports and Output to Word & Excel 147
Reporting and Output to Word and Excel Overview 147
Printing and Report Functions 147
Input/Output to Word & Excel from the File Menu 148
Hierarchy to Word 148
Alternatives to Word 149
Importing (Input) from Word 149
Data Grid Information to Excel 150
Area Validation Exercise Appendix 153
Area Validation - Numerical 155
Validation Questions 156
Area Validation - Verbal 156
Results & Conclusion 157
Receiver and Keypad Appendix 159
Programming the Keypads 160
How the Hardware and Keypads are Activated 161
Selecting Keypad Options 161
Facilitator Keypad 162
Using Keypads Anonymously 163
Default Facilitator Menus 163
Common Keypad Troubleshooting Questions 165
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Expert Choice Glossary 167
Absolute Measurement 167
Active Alternatives 167
Active Participants 167
Activity Level Resource Allocation 167
Affinity Diagramming 167
Alternatives 167
Assessment 167
Autoadvance 168
Autoredraw 168
Base Case Maximum 168
Best Fit 168
Bottom Up Structuring 168
Budget Limit 168
Child Node 168
Cluster 168
ClusterView 169
Comparisons - Modes of 169
Complete Hierarchy 169
Covering Objective 169
Criterion / Criteria 169
Data Grid 169
Diagonal Pairwise 169
Distributive Synthesis 169
Feasible/Infeasible Solution 170
Formulas Grid 170
Formula Type 170
Gap Analysis 170
Geometric Average 170
Geometric Indicator 170
Geometric Variance 170
Global Alternatives 171
Global Priority 171
Goal Node 171
Grandchild 171
Graphical Comparison Mode 171
Hierarchy 171
Ideal Synthesis 171
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Ideal Synthesis and Resource Allocation 172
Incomplete Hierarchy 172
Inconsistency Ratio and Index 172
Information Document 173
Instensity Scales 173
Invert 173
Judgment 173
Judgment vs. Data 174
Local Priority 174
ModelView 174
Musts in the Data Grid 174
Node 174
Note 174
Numerical Comparison Mode 174
Objective 174
Optimal Solution 175
Pairwise Comparisons/Paired Comparisons 175
Parent Node 175
Plex 175
Priority 175
Pros and Cons - Structuring 175
Ratings 175
Redraw 175
Relative Measurement 176
Resource Allocation 176
Sensitivity Analysis 176
Sibling Node 176
Step Function 176
Structural Adjust 176
Structuring 177
Sub-objective (Sub-Criterion) 177
Synthesis 177
TreeView 177
Top Down Structuring (Affinity Diagramming) 177
Utility Curves 177
Verbal Comparison Mode 177
What-if 177
Index 179
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About the Expert Choice Tutorials
The purpose of the tutorials is to teach you how to use the major features of the Expert Choice
software. Consider the decision process involved in selecting a vendor for an IT project. When
an organization selects a vendor, they usually have several objectives they want to satisfy
before they will be happy with their selection. Examples of these objectives may be to maximize
performance and reliability, while minimizing cost. Additionally, some objectives may have sub-
objectives and sub sub-objectives. In the following tutorials you will learn how to use Expert
Choice to evaluate alternatives and measure their relative benefits to the decision-maker(s)
objectives.
y Lesson 1, Building a Model, will guide you through building a hierarchical model with
objectives, sub-objectives and alternatives, viewing the overall results (synthesis) and
performing sensitivity analyses.
y Lesson 2, Structuring, illustrates other ways to build a model. With the top-down
approach, you cluster objectives and then add alternatives; this process is known as
Affinity Diagramming. With the bottom-up approach you convert alternatives' pros and
cons to objectives.
y Lesson 3, the Data Grid, explains the grid and demonstrates Ratings, the first of several
different approaches for applying values to a model.
y Lesson 4 continues to explain the remaining Data Grid approaches: Step Functions,
Utility Curves, and Entering Priorities Directly.
y Lesson 5 explains how to define and use: user defined columns that are not part of the
objectives hierarchy; link data from external databases to Expert Choice; and import
data from Expert Choice to external databases.
y Lesson 6 shows you how to group enable a model for use in a team setting using either a
local area network or the Internet.
y Lesson 7, Web Models and the Internet, is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how
to access models on a network.
In addition, Expert Choices Decision Portal (ECDP), a hosted service, enables you to
make your models available to your participants via the Internet. Then participants can
make judgments about objectives or alternatives in a model from any where and at time
using a browser and an Internet connection. This function is outside the scope of this
document; for more information contact Expert Choice.
y Lesson 8, the resource allocation component, known as Resource Aligner, is a way to
select a combination of alternatives that maximize (optimize) the attainment of objectives
while not exceeding a specified budget.
y Lesson 9 discusses how to produce reports and export information to Word and Excel.
y The Area Validation Exercise Appendix shows you how Expert Choice converts
seemingly meaningless words into accurate ratio scale priorities.
y The Keypad and Receiver Appendix explains how to use radio frequency reply system
with Expert Choice. This feature enables an organization to have a portable decision
room where many participants can evaluate a group model.
y A Glossary of Expert Choice Terminology is presented in this section.
We recommend that you perform each lesson in order. Lesson 2, Structuring, can be
bypassed although it is highly recommended. You can perform the area validation exercise
after performing Lesson 1. Lessons 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 describe various functions of Expert
Choice. At the beginning of each section we reference models, if applicable, which are found
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in the sample models directory (ecsamples) that is usually stored under the root directory.
Lesson 7 and the Receiver and Hardware Appendix can be read as needed.
We also recommend that you use the Expert Choice Contents and Index found on the Help
Menu when using Expert Choice as this document contains information not presented here.
2
Introduction to Expert Choice
Expert Choice (EC) software is a multi-objective decision support tool based on the Analytic
Hierarchy Process (AHP), a mathematical theory first developed at the Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania by one of Expert Choice's founders, Thomas L. Saaty. The AHP is
a powerful and comprehensive methodology designed to facilitate sound decision making by
using both empirical data as well as subjective judgments of the decision-maker.
The AHP assists with the decision making process by providing decision-makers with a
structure to organize and evaluate the importance of various objectives and the preferences of
alternative solutions to a decision.
Expert Choice has a unique method of using pairwise comparisons to derive priorities that can
more accurately reflect your perceptions and values than any other way. Expert Choice
synthesizes or combines the priorities that you derive for each facet of your problem to obtain
the overall priorities of your alternatives. By performing "what-if" and sensitivity analyses, you
can quickly determine how a change in the importance of an objective would affect the
alternatives of choice.
If the results of your decision model differ from your intuition; you can modify the model and/or
judgments until the model incorporates your intuition. Then the model results will either change
to conform to your "gut" feeling, or your intuition will change based upon your modeling. In the
former case, you will not only have verified your "gut" feeling, but you will have a detailed
justification, if one is required. In the latter case, you will have learned something and avoided
a costly mistake.
Expert Choice provides for the synthesis of different peoples' judgments. Expert Choice is also
useful for forecasting, assessing risk and uncertainty, and deriving probability distributions.
3
Overview of Expert Choice Features
These are some of the features available in Expert Choice.
y User friendly displays that make decision model building straightforward and
simple
y ModelView containing one of the following:
TreeView pane a hierarchy of objectives, plus the Alternatives and rich text
end-user documentation in the form of Information Documents
Affinity Diagramming pane a presentation of the decision hierarchy
(objectives, sub-objectives) that look much post-its with one node dropped
inside another, plus alternatives and information documents
Pros and Cons associated with a selected alternative, the alternatives and
information documents
y TreeView with automatic expansion and collapsing of branches including:
Long objectives/names of the criteria to allow for in-depth explanations
Drag and drop manipulation of objectives and sub-objectives in the TreeView
or Affinity Diagramming
Unlimited Levels in Hierarchy build larger, more complex decision models
y Information Documents easily accessible from most windows, enabling you to
import videos, sound or text or even run other programs
y Notes another form of documentation, where each group participant can enter
their own comments related to the decision process
y Data Grid Approaches
Ratings
Step Functions
Increasing and Decreasing Utility Curves
Direct Entry of Priorities
User Defied Columns
Data Conversion ability to rapidly convert large amounts of raw data from
existing databases to prioritized information to be used for decision-making
y Resource Aligner ability to optimize resources and allocate funds (budgets) with
varying constraints, groups, funding pools and risks
y Printing/Reporting easily exportable reports to Microsoft Word and Excel
y Network capabilities for group decision-making including Expert Choices Decision
Portal using a browser
y Reply System Receiver and Keypad capability for group decision making
y Resource Allocation a way to select a combination of alternatives that maximize
(optimize) the attainment of objectives while not exceeding a specified budget
available as an Expert Choice add on.
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prioritize the relative importance of the decision objectives, Expert Choice is then used to
synthesize the group's judgments to arrive at a conclusion. Then the team can examine how
changing the priorities of any objective affects the outcome by manipulating one of four
dynamic sensitivity graphs. By keeping the participants focused on the problem, Expert Choice
contributes to more efficient use of meeting time.
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What Expert Choice is used for:
Expert Choice is designed to help individuals and groups in the analysis, synthesis and
justification of complex decisions and evaluations. Thousands of businesses and government
agencies worldwide use Expert Choice for a variety of applications including:
y Resource Allocation
y Source Selection
y Human Resource Management
y Employee Performance Evaluation
y Salary Decisions
y Formulating Marketing Strategy
y Selecting Alternatives
y Predicting Likely Outcomes
y Analytical Planning
y Facilitating Group Decision Making
y Benefit/Cost Analysis
y Engineering Design Evaluations
y Production and Operations Management
y Policy Formulation and Evaluation
y Evaluating Acquisitions and Mergers
y Supplier Evaluation
y Credit Analysis
y Customer Feedback
y IT Portfolio Management
y Product Pricing Decisions
y Innovation Management
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Installing Expert Choice
To install Expert Choice with Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 or higher, Windows 2000 and
Windows XP:
Note: If you do not have a serial number or do not enter a valid serial number, then only the
trial version features will be enabled. Dependent upon your computer policies you may
need administrative privileges to install Expert Choice.
Alternatively, if an Expert Choice icon has been installed on your desk-top you can click the
icon.
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Conventions Used in the Tutorials
y Window refers to one of several EC windows:
ModelView
Data Grid
Formulas Grid
Resource Aligner
y Pane is a portion of a window. A window can have several panes that change as different
portions of Expert Choice are accessed.
Mouse Conventions
If you have a multiple-button mouse, the left mouse button is the primary mouse button, unless
you have configured it differently. Any procedure that requires you to click the secondary
button will say, "right-click."
Click Items following the word "Click" will appear in bold typeface.
Select, then Press the mouse button once on the menu bar item. Move the cursor to the
specified item within the sub-menu and press the mouse button again or
slide the cursor to the specified item and release the mouse button.
For example: Select File, then Open. Then move the mouse to the word
File on the menu bar and click once. Move the mouse to the word Open on
the drop-down menu and click once.
Drag Press and hold the left-mouse button on the indicated item as you move the
mouse to the designated location, dragging the item with the mouse pointer,
and then release the mouse button on the desired destination.
Type When you are required to enter data, we use the word "Type", followed by
what is to be entered in bold print; for example: Type Performance
Scroll Bars Click and drag the arrows on a scroll bar, located at the right-side or bottom
of a window, to scroll within a window.
Shortcut keys exist for some, but not all of the menu commands. You can see the shortcuts
when a drop-down menu is selected using the keyboard or the mouse.
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Standard Editing Keys
Text can be edited using the same keys you would use for a typical word processor.
arrow keys move the cursor horizontally and vertically through the
text
Delete deletes character immediately to the right of the cursor
backspace key deletes character immediately to the left of the cursor
Home moves the cursor to the beginning of the line
End moves the cursor to the end of the line
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Lesson 1 - Building A Model
Building a hierarchy is as much an art as it is a science. Following are guidelines that you need
to keep in mind before beginning to build any model. By keeping these two simple guidelines in
mind, you will be able to model complex decisions correctly and efficiently.
Guideline 1: Try not to include more than nine elements in any cluster because experiments
have shown that it is cognitively challenging for human beings to deal with more than nine
factors at one time and this can result in less accurate priorities.
Guideline 2: Try to cluster elements so that they include elements that are "comparable", or do
not differ by orders of magnitude. In other words, try not to include items of very small
significance in the same cluster as items of greater significance. The purpose of a hierarchy is
to cluster the more important elements with each other and the less important elements with
each other.
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TreeView pane displays the hierarchical listing of the objectives and sub-objectives. This is
where you will enter the objectives and sub-objectives of your decision. Each element in the
TreeView is also referred to as a Node.
Alternatives pane displays the active alternatives. Alternatives can be added to your model
from this pane or from the Data Grid (the latter to be explained in Lesson 3).
Information document pane displays information about the highlighted objective or
alternative in either the TreeView or Alternatives pane.
To create a model
y Click the Windows Start key, select Programs; select Expert Choice program group
and then select Expert Choice.
Then a blank ModelView window consisting of three panes will appear with a Welcome
to Expert Choice dialogue box superimposed over the ModelView.
Tip: If you have already created an icon for Expert Choice on your desktop, you may
double click the icon to start.
y Using the Welcome to Expert Choice dialogue box, select Create new model and click
OK.
Note: To open a recently opened model, select Recent; then select a model from the
drop-down list or select Browse existing files.
Tip: If you don't want use the Welcome dialogue box, select Esc; then from the
ModelView, select File, then New.
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y A dialogue box will appear that prompts you to type a file name. Type Laptop; then click
Open.
y Another dialogue box will appear prompting you to "Enter a description for your goal."
Type To purchase a laptop computer; then click OK.
Notice your model has no elements below the goal; this is indicated by the gray
rectangle next to your goal description. Now you will enter the objectives and sub-
objectives of your decision model.
Tip: A quick way to insert an objective is to right-click on the Goal and select Insert
Child of Current Node from the drop down menu. Once you have entered an objective,
you may right-click on it and select Insert Sibling of Current Node to enter other
objectives on the same level.
y Type your second objective, Reliability: a laptop that is durable, then press Enter.
Notice when you add the second objective the yellow rectangle, to the left of the goal
node, now includes a red rectangle in its center; this means that the objectives below
the goal have not been assessed.
We will now continue entering in our objectives. Notice that we briefly define our objectives to
help clarify what we are trying to accomplish.
y Type your third objective, Customer Service: easily accessible Technical Support,
then Enter.
y Type your fourth objective, Price: affordable with some bells and whistles; then
press Enter.
y Press Enter to stop inserting children.
Trash Can
Trash receives nodes that have been deleted from the model (Edit, Delete Node) or copied
using Edit, Copy Plex to Trash Can.
y From the ModelView, select View, Trash Can.
Once items are in the trash can they appear in a Trash window and can be dragged
and dropped back into the hierarchy by positioning the cursor over the node that will
receive them.
Tip: If you terminate your Expert Choice session now by selecting File, Exit you can
easily retrieve the most recently accessed models by selecting one of the entries in the
bottom portion of the File, Open menu dropdown list.
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y Press and hold the left mouse button while positioned on the node (objective) or its
description that you wish to move elsewhere in the hierarchy.
y Drag that node over another node in the hierarchy where you would like it to appear,
until the receiving node is highlighted; then release the mouse. The node will become
the first child under the node on which it is dropped. During the move a white notepad
will be dragged from one portion of the hierarchy to another.
Tip: An easier way to move and copy nodes is to drag and drop with the RIGHT mouse
button. Then a list of options will appear; select one.
y If you want the nodes of a cluster to appear in alphabetical order, select the parent of
the cluster and then select Edit, Sort Cluster.
y To rearrange nodes within a cluster, select each node within the cluster in reverse
order of the way you want them to appear in the cluster and drop each in turn on the
parent node of the cluster.
y Click the Add Alternative button in the right corner of the Alternative pane.
Then a dialogue box will appear which prompts you to enter an "Alternative name".
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y Type DaVinci, then click OK or press Enter.
Note: For legal reasons, we use the names of mathematicians in lieu of computer
manufacturers. You may wish to enter computer manufacturer names such as IBM,
Gateway, Apple, Dell, or Toshiba.
y Repeat the above process to enter the remaining two alternatives, Galileo, and then
Turing.
Tip: When you see the phrase "Click OK", you have the option of doing just that or
pressing the Enter key.
Next you will learn how to make judgments or pairwise comparisons about the objectives and
alternatives in your model.
Verbal judgments are used to compare factors using the words Equal, Moderate,
Strong, Very Strong, Extreme. Equal means the two items being compared are of equal
importance to you. Extreme means an order of magnitude about 9 or 10 to 1. Judgments
between these words, such as Moderate to Strong are also possible.
Graphical judgments are made by adjusting the relative length of two bars until the
relative lengths of the bars represent how many times more important one element is than the
other.
Numerical judgments are made using a nine-point scale, represent how many times one
element is more important than another.
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Changing the Paired Comparison Type
There are three different paired comparison types, importance, preference and likelihood.
Importance is most appropriate when comparing objectives or criteria. Preference is
appropriate when comparing alternatives with respect to their covering objective. Likelihood is
appropriate when comparing the likelihood of uncertain events or scenarios, as in risk analysis.
To change the comparison type:
y Select Assessment, Set Mode and then select one of the three options in the type
section: Importance, Preference or Likelihood.
Tip: If you cannot see the lower portion of the window, enlarge it.
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Using the verbal comparison mode, you assess the relative importance of two elements at a
time using words from Equal to Extreme. You may also select "between" Equal, Moderate,
Strong, and Very Strong. You should use the word that most accurately represents your
feelings.
The upper portion of the Verbal Pairwise window shows two elements being compared with
respect to their parent. On the right side of the Verbal Pairwise screen is the verbal judgment
indicator. By clicking and dragging the indicator, either up or down, you can select the
judgment that best describes your feelings. The lower portion of the window shows numerical
representations of the verbal judgments; the current judgment is highlighted. Note for example,
a judgment of Strong, while represented by 5, does not necessarily mean that one element is 5
times another since the priorities are derived from the set of judgments, rather than one
judgment alone.
Tip: In our example, the objective on the top is more important than the objective on the
bottom. If the objective on the bottom is more important than the top, select the word
from the lower portion of the scale.
Now make the remaining five judgments by referring to Table 1. When finished, read the
additional information about entering verbal judgments before proceeding.
Table 1 Remaining Verbal Judgments under the Goal: to purchase a laptop computer
At any time you may alter your judgments by clicking on whichever judgment box in the matrix
that you would like to change; then make your change using the verbal scale.
There are several ways judgments can be entered with the mouse when using the Verbal
comparison mode; for further information refer to context sensitive on-line help by pressing F1
from the Verbal comparison window.
One way to make Verbal judgments is to type the numerical representation of the judgment in
a matrix cell. If you want to enter a judgment between two words such as "Very Strong and
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Extreme" you would type 8. If you do this, 8 is merely a numerical representation of the
wording "Very Strong to Extreme". Refer to Table 2 Numerical Representations of Verbal
Judgments.
When the column element in the matrix (objective 2) is preferred to the row element (objective
1) first move to the matrix cell and then invert the judgment by pressing Alt I or clicking the
Invert button .
y After you enter your last judgment, a dialogue box will appear asking if you want to
"Record Judgments and Calculate".
o Select No, and you will remain at the Verbal window where you may change
judgments. Once finished reviewing and/or changing your judgments, click
the Calculate button to record and calculate your priorities and display a
graph of the results. See Figure 3.
o If you had selected Yes, the priorities for the objectives would have been
calculated and you will be returned to the ModelView window without
displaying the priority graph.
Tip: When entering judgments, you may click the calculate button as long as it is
colored yellow or green. The calculate button will be: Red if not enough judgments are
made to calculate priorities; Green if all judgments have been made; or Yellow if you
have missing judgments but there are a sufficient number to calculate priorities.
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Notice at the top portion of the Priorities window you have the option to:
y Sort by Name sorts your objectives in alphabetical order.
y Sort by Priority sorts your objectives in ascending order by priority.
y Unsort leaves the objectives in the order in which they are shown in the TreeView.
y If the Normalize box is checked the highest priority will be shown as a value of 1.000
while the other priorities will be displayed as a ratio with respect to the highest priority.
Inconsistency
The inconsistency measure is useful for identifying possible errors in judgments as well as
actual inconsistencies in the judgments themselves; this is accessed from the "Priorities with
respect to" window.
Inconsistency measures the logical inconsistency of your judgments. For example, if you were
to say that A is more important than B and B is more important than C and then say that C is
more important than A you are not being consistent. A somewhat less inconsistent situation
would arise if you would say that A is 3 times more important than B, B is 2 times more
important than C, and that C is 8 times more important than A.
In general, the inconsistency ratio should be less than 0.1 or so to be considered reasonably
consistent. The "Priorities with respect to" window also shows how many missing judgments
are in the set of elements being compared.
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Examining and Improving Inconsistency
After judgments have been entered, you may also request suggestions for reducing
inconsistency. This can be done from any comparison mode.
To see how Expert Choice helps identify inconsistencies, do the following from the Verbal
comparison window:
y Select Inconsistency, 1st from the menu to identify the most inconsistent judgment.
y Select Inconsistency, Best Fit.
Figure 4 shows our Best Fit, where the judgment between Reliability and Customer Service
should be Equal as indicated by the Best Fit indicator of 1.0, located above the matrix. Notice
we entered a judgment of Moderate that is represented by 3. Your Best Fit might be different if
you did not make the same judgments. (You should only change an inconsistent judgment if
you feel that your initial comparison was in error and did not truly represent your feeling.)
Note: If the Best Fit is displayed in red then the column element of the matrix is preferred to the
row element. To enter an inverted element in the matrix, enter your judgment and if it is not
Tip: To view the "best fit" of any cell right-click in a selected matrix cell.
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Judgments for the Sub-objectives, Using the Graphical Mode
Now you will make judgments (paired comparisons) with respect to the sub-objectives below
Performance using the Graphical comparison mode.
If you made any changes to your model while you were learning how to use the Inconsistency
command you might be prompted to record your judgments. Since you were experimenting,
just select No.
Tip: By dragging the top bar to the right you are saying that the element on top is more
important than the element on the bottom, in proportion to the relative lengths of the
bars. By dragging the bottom bar to the right you are saying that the element on the
bottom is more important than the element above. The numerical representation of the
judgment is entered into the cell matrix; if the number is in red it indicates that the
column element is preferred to the row element.
When done dragging a bar you are prompted "Record Judgments and Calculate?" If you select
Yes you are returned to the ModelView.
y Select No.
y Click the Calculate button to view the Priorities Graph
y Click ModelView tab to return to the hierarchy.
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y If you click on the number above the slider bar you will autoadvance to the next
paired comparison. Alternatively, you can drag the indicator bar to make the next
judgment. Then click the next empty cell in the matrix. (Refer to on-line help to see
other ways to enter judgments.)
y After all comparisons have been made, you will be prompted to record your
judgments and return to the ModelView.
y From the TreeView, select Hard Drive, the next sub-objective to be compared.
y Select one of the modes of comparison of your choice by clicking on a tab Verbal,
Graphical or Numerical.
y Make your own comparisons and return to the ModelView.
Tip: Remember to save your model often; then if you want to go back to an earlier
version you can use the Edit Revert command.
y You can repeat the above steps until all remaining three comparisons are made, or
alternatively, you can:
o Select Go, Next Unassesed (to advance to the next unevaluated set of
elements).
o Select one of the modes of comparison of your choice - Verbal, Graphical or
Numerical.
o Repeat the above process until all judgments have been made for both the
last two objectives.
y Then return to the ModelView.
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Tip: You can tell when comparisons have been made with respect to a node, as the red
indicator in the yellow or gray rectangles of the TreeView will no longer be present.
Redraw Commands
There are two redraw commands that are available when at the ModelView or Data Grid
windows (lessons 3 5 explain the Data Grid). Each command redraws the TreeView
(hierarchy) around the current node. Other redraw commands are found on the View Menu;
they expand and contract nodes and display only the first level of the hierarchy.
The redraw commands are useful when viewing large models; you can move to a node in the
hierarchy and view what is relevant without losing your position. When at the Data Grid you
can click a node in the hierarchy and you will automatically be positioned to its corresponding
covering objective on the grid. See lesson 3.
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Autoredraw
Autoredraw, the default option, automatically redraws the hierarchy about the current node.
When you move to a new node in the hierarchy, Autoredraw will automatically expand the
current node displaying its descendants while collapsing other branch nodes of the hierarchy.
(This feature uses Expert Choice's patent 4,613,946.) Autoredraw is represented on the button
Redraw
Redraw, is only available when Autoredraw is off. It manually redraws the hierarchy about the
Tip: When at the ModelView's TreeView, depressing the first letter of a node name (or a
series of characters) will take you to that node.
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Ideal Synthesis
The Ideal synthesis mode assigns the full weight of each covering objective to the best
(highest priority) alternative for each covering objective. The other alternatives receive weights
under each covering objective proportionate to their priority relative to the best alternative
under each covering objective. The weights/priorities for all the alternatives are then
normalized so they sum to 1.0.
When using the ideal synthesis mode, the addition or removal of alternatives (that are not best
on any covering objective) will NOT impact the relative priorities (ratios or ranks) of other
alternatives. The ideal mode should be used when selecting one alternative from many and
when the priorities of the alternatives not selected are not of interest.
Distributive Synthesis
The Distributive mode distributes the weight of each covering objective to the alternatives in
direct proportion to the alternative priorities under each covering objective. When using the
distributive synthesis mode, the addition or removal of an alternative results in a re-adjustment
of the priorities of the other alternatives such that their ratios and ranks can change. The
distributive mode should be used when measuring under conditions of scarcity for example
when forecasting outcomes whose probabilities must add to 1, or when looking at elections
where votes cast for one candidate may alter the rank of another candidate.
Because each synthesis mode combines priorities differently, you will notice that each mode
may yield different, although normally very similar, results. For more information about the
synthesis modes see the main on-line Synthesis section, Selecting the Synthesis Type.
Synthesis Commands
There are two synthesis tabs Summary and Details.
Summary displays bar graphs of the alternatives' priorities with respect to the node from
which you performed the synthesis (in our example, the Goal). See Figure 9 above.
Details shows a grid of all the priorities and alternatives with respect to the goal or objective
selected. In our example, since we selected the Goal node, we show all objectives, sub-
objectives and alternatives; see Figure 10. Experiment with the other detail options and refer to
the on-line help for more information.
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You can open four types of sensitivity analyses at once or each one separately. Each graph
has its own unique menu commands and each sensitivity analysis can be compared to a
"what-if" analysis because the results are temporary. The remainder of this section explains
each graph.
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Dynamic Sensitivity
Dynamic Sensitivity analysis is used to dynamically change the priorities of the objectives to
determine how these changes affect the priorities of the alternative choices. By dragging the
objectives priorities back and forth in the left column, the priorities of the alternatives will
change in the right column. If a decision-maker thinks an objective might be more or less
important than originally indicated, the decision-maker can drag that objective's bar to the right
or left to increase or decrease the objectives priority and see the impact on alternatives.
Figure 11 shows a Dynamic Sensitivity graph.
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Performance Sensitivity
To see the Performance Sensitivity graph:
y Click the appropriate button on the Dynamic graph button bar. Alternatively, select
Sensitivity-Graphs from the ModelView; then select Performance.
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The Performance Sensitivity analysis, displayed in Figure 13, shows how the alternatives were
prioritized relative to other alternatives with respect to each objective as well as overall.
To see how the best computer compared to the second and third computers, read the overall
priority from the intersection of "right y-axis" and the overall priority for each alternative. In our
example, DaVinci is approximately .43, Galileo is approximately .34 and Turing is
approximately .24. Note the priorities for the alternatives sum to one.
To read each objective's priority (based on the decision-makers paired comparisons), use the
left y-axis. For example Performance is about .52 while Reliability is about .25. Customer
Service is about .14 and Price is about .10.
To read the alternative priorities with respect to each objective, read from the "right y-axis". In
our example, using Reliability, DaVinci has priority of approximately .90; while Galileo is about
.50 and Turing is approximately .26.
This graph is also dynamic, so you can temporarily alter the relationship between the
alternatives and their objectives.
y Drag any one of the objective bars up or down.
y Select the Open Four button from the Performance menu bar.
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In this figure you can see that increasing the priority of Price from .09 to .36 changes the
choice of the alternative with respect to Price. When viewing a Gradient graph you are looking
for cross-over points of the alternatives.
Head-to-Head Graph
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overall result is displayed at the bottom of the graph and shows the overall percentage by
which one alternative is better than the other; this is the composite difference. The overall
priority can either be shown based on the objective weights (typical) or un-weighted.
button .
This graph (Figure 16) shows the alternatives' priorities with respect to two objectives at a time.
By clicking the menu commands "X Axis" and "Y Axis" you have the ability to change the
objectives being displayed.
The area of the 2D plot is divided into quadrants. The most favorable alternatives with respect
to the objectives on the two axes will be shown in the upper right quadrant (the closer to the
upper right corner, the better the alternative). The least favorable alternatives will be shown in
the lower left quadrant (the closer to the lower left corner, the less favorable the alternative).
Alternatives located in the upper left and lower right quadrants indicate key tradeoffs where
there is conflict between the two selected objectives.
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Now save your model by selecting File, Save. Alternatively, click the save button from the
button bar or use the shortcut keys Ctrl S.
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Lesson 2 - Structuring - Another Way to Build A Model
Structuring Overview
Expert Choices Structuring component is a freestyle, interactive technique for building a
model. Unlike the way we built our model in Lesson 1, you can think in terms of clustering
ideas that are a result of brainstorming, discussion, research and the solicitation of views and
ideas from others. There are two approaches to model building in Structuring.
Bottom-up structuring is best suited for situations where the alternatives are better understood
than the objectives. The pros and cons of the alternatives are used to help identify the
objectives that can then be clustered into groups.
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value-neutral terms, rather than the positive and negative terms of pros and cons, and 2)
specified in a general form. Making this conversion is usually easier than it may appear. For
example, the pros and cons of being inexpensive or high priced in deciding which car to buy
would be generalized into the objective of saving money. Another way to think about
converting pros and cons into objectives is to consider how the pros and cons of an alternative
can serve as indicators of what you actually want, which can then be expressed as an
objective.
There are two Structuring approaches to model building, bottom-up and top-down. The terms
bottom-up and top-down are not based on AHP but Expert Choice users should not interpret
these terms rigidly for two reasons: 1) in bottom-up structuring, regardless of how hard you try
to stick with a strict bottom-up approach, you still have to start with some kind of goal in mind
and the goal is always represented by the top level of the decision model; and 2) with regard to
top-down modeling, Affinity Diagramming provides for a freestyle, interactive "brainstorming" of
the various aspects of your decision situation which is a natural, intuitive approach to building a
decision model, where identifying parts of the problem is a matter of inspiration, intuition and
common sense more often than a formal stepwise process, working from top to bottom.
Bottom-up structuring means that you are starting construction of your decision model with the
alternatives at the bottom and working "up" towards your goal. Top-down structuring (Affinity
Diagramming) means, essentially, that you are starting by listing and organizing your
objectives. The instructions for top-down structuring emphasize the freestyle interactive
approach to top-down structuring because 1) discussions of induction and deduction applied to
AHP model building are beyond the scope of this manual; and 2) if you know how to use formal
applications of inductive and deductive logic, it is straightforward to implement them in top-
down structuring once you are skilled in using Expert Choice (if, for some reason, you think
you must). Emphasizing a freestyle, interactive approach to top-down structuring is the best
way to lead you into becoming skilled, efficient, and comfortable with the Structuring.
If Affinity Diagramming button is not on the button bar , you must turn on Structuring;
y From the menu, select Tools, Options; then select the General tab.
y In the Structuring box, select the Enable button; then select Close.
y From the menu, select View; then select the Affinity Diagramming pane or just click
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Figure 1 shows the ModelView window that now consists of the Affinity Diagramming pane; it
replaced the Treeview pane used in Lesson 1. Additional buttons appear in the right corner,
over both the Affinity Diagramming and Alternatives panes.
y Drag your mouse over each button to see what they do.
Tip: To position an existing objective drag it where desired. To position the placement
of a new objective, click anywhere in the Affinity Diagramming pane; drag a box with the
mouse. Next enter the objective.
Now use the list below to enter the remaining objectives, repeating the same process from
above.
Engine Performance
Safety
Price
Horsepower
Acceleration
Crash Test Score
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Braking Distance
Initial Cost
Resale Value
Note: When using the Structuring feature, it is not necessary to worry about whether a new
entry is an objective or a sub-objective as you will cluster them later.
y If you cannot see the entire objectives name within a box select Tools, Options.
y You should be at the View tab. Look at the second box in the tab.
y Change the number of characters to 20.
y Select Close. Now you see the entire objectives names; that is if you typed what we
suggested.
Editing Objectives
To edit an objective, double click on it.
Clustering Ideas
Once you are satisfied with the list, it is time to cluster your objectives by identifying those that
belong in the same cluster and then repositioning (dragging) the objectives into that cluster. An
objective that does not fit into any cluster may standalone. If you have several objectives that
do not fit into any existing cluster but belong to the same cluster, simply add another objective
into which these objectives can be clustered.
Follow the steps below to cluster the objectives entered in the Affinity Diagramming pane.
y Click Engine Performance, the objective you want to move; it will become
highlighted.
y Drag Engine Performance to the right of the list of objectives by pressing and holding
the left-mouse button. Release the mouse when done.
y Click Horsepower, it will become highlighted.
y Drag and position Horsepower over Engine Performance. Once positioned, release
the mouse button. Now Horsepower is clustered in the Engine Performance box.
Cluster the remaining objectives listed below, using the same steps just described. Refer to
Figure 2 below to see what our clusters look like.
y Acceleration to Engine Performance
y Crash Test Score and Braking Distance to Safety
y Initial Cost and Resale Value to Price
Tip: Another way to enter an objective is to click anywhere in the Affinity Diagramming
pane and drag the mouse until a rectangular shaped box is drawn, simultaneously, a
dialogue box will appear, prompting you to enter your objective.
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After clustering the objectives you are ready to enter alternatives; note Figure 2 shows the
alternatives that you will add.
Tip: You can also cluster objectives by dragging a box around one or more existing
objectives. When the mouse button is released, you will be prompted for the name of
the new clustering objective. (You may need to drag and arrange the objectives to an
empty portion of the screen before doing this.)
Entering Alternatives
Now that the objectives and sub-objectives are clustered it is time to enter alternatives.
y Click the Add Alternative button , or select Edit, Insert Alternative from the
menu.
y A dialogue box will appear prompting you to enter an "Alternative name"; type
Clydesdale. (Rather than use actual car names we use the names of horses; feel free
to use your preferred vehicle names.)
y Repeat the Add Alternative process to enter the remaining two alternatives: Arabian
and Palomino.
Tip: To enter an alternative, you can alternatively right-click in the alternatives pane and
then type an alternative name in the dialogue box.
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Now we will view the hierarchy.
y To view the hierarchy, click the TreeView button or select View, TreeView from
the menu. Figure 3 shows this.
Note: You can drag/drop the objectives to change the order of the objectives in the hierarchy
as explained in "moving nodes in the hierarchy" in Lesson 1.
From this point on you would continue to evaluate your model by making paired comparisons
as described in Lesson 1, or you could evaluate your model based on what you will learn in
Lesson 3, using the Data Grid.
Now we want to show you how to draw a box around several objectives to make a new top-
level objective.
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y With the mouse drag and draw a box around them.
y When prompted type an objective name such as Features.
Tip: To create one objective, just drag and draw with the mouse.
Entering Alternatives
y Click the Pros/Cons pane button over the TreeView pane. Alternatively, from
the menu select View; then select Alternative Pros/Cons pane.
The Pros/Cons pane with three buttons will appear in the ModelView window. Figure 4 shows
our pros and cons for the highlighted alternative. Notice the highlighted alternative in the
Alternatives pane also appears as the title above the Pros/Cons pane.
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Now you will enter pros and cons for the first alternative. If you would like to add pros and/or
cons for a different alternative simply click on another alternative to make it the current
alternative.
y With Clydesdale selected, click the Add Pro button. A dialogue box will appear
labeled "Add Pro for Clydesdale"
y Type High Engine Performance then click OK. If necessary, drag the pro under the
Pro button.
Tip: To align the entry of a future pro or con in the pane, click with the mouse where
you would like the pro or con to appear before selecting the appropriate button.
y Add the following pros, repeating the same process just explained:
y Stylish
y Crash Test Score
y Fast
Continue adding Pros and Cons for the remaining two alternatives; for brevity we will only enter
one pro and one con for each alternative.
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y Click on the next alternative, Arabian. Add the pro, Affordable
y Add the con, Slow Acceleration
y Select File, Save to save your model before viewing a list of all your pros and cons.
this is to click the All Pros/Cons button over the Alternatives pane.
Note: The Pros are in blue while the Cons are magenta.
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y Drag and drop it on the Goal in the TreeView.
y When prompted to re-define the con as an objective, type Low Cost; click OK.
The above process places the objective, Low Cost, below the Goal in the TreeView.
You should now be able to see the beginning of the formation of your hierarchy.
Notice how the con, Very Expensive, is now grayed out; this indicates that it was converted to
an objective. Gray can be removed from a pro or con by double clicking.
Tip: Since alternatives are evaluated based on their preference with respect to
objectives, the wording for cons must almost always be changed to state the objective
(or objectives) that the con points to. For example, expensive points to low cost as
an objective.
Looking at the list of pros and cons, you can see that some pros and cons could be repeated
more than once because they are associated with more than one alternative; if this is the case,
you would not need to convert repeats. Those pros and cons not used in the conversion
process will remain white.
Tip: On the other hand, a single pro or con may point to several objectives and can be
dragged and dropped numerous times. For example, a pro of size for a large car may
point to the following objectives: Comfort; Carrying capacity; Safety; Fuel Economy;
Ease of Parking, etc.
button and started grouping our objectives. Third, we also added a few more objectives.
Fourth, we returned to the TreeView by clicking and dragged the objectives in reverse
order of presentation to place them in the hierarchy as shown.
We could have added objectives directly in the TreeView by selecting Edit, Insert either Child
or Sibling of the current node. Then we could have dragged existing objectives beneath the
new objectives. Both choices produce the same results.
Expert Choice is a flexible decision support system designed to work the way you think.
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Before this lesson ends, we want to describe three more features that are available:
Information Documents and Notes and Object Linking and Embedding.
y From the Goal, click the Information button that appears on the button bar and a
blank document will appear.
y Type your name.
y To close, click the Information button.
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Note: If an Information Document exists for the current (highlighted) node, the Information
Notes
In addition to Information Documents, Notes can be entered for objectives in the hierarchy,
alternatives, individual paired comparisons, and Data Grid assessments as well as cells in the
Data Grid (discussed in Lesson 3). When working with group models, each participant can
enter their own notes to express their views, rationale, concerns and the like about the different
parts of the decision process.
y To create a note from the current (highlighted) node, click the Note button.
Enter your comments and when done, click the Note button to close.
If a note exists for the current node, the bottom portion of the Note button will be colored .
When a Note window is open, you can drag other documents to it and/or create shortcuts to
other files or programs. Like Information documents, Notes are available from other windows.
To learn more about these features, refer to Expert Choices Contents and Index.
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3. Lastly close the Information Document or Note.
4. To close the embedded file and executing program, in this case, Excel, you must click x
in the upper-right corner of the window or press Alt-Spacebar.
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Lesson 3 - Data Grid and Ratings
Data Grid Overview
The Data Grid contains data about the decision alternatives with respect to the decision
hierarchy covering objectives. The alternatives appear in the rows of the Data Grid while the
covering objectives appear in the columns; see Figure 1. Instead of deriving priorities for
alternatives through pairwise comparisons, as illustrated in Lesson 1, formulas can be defined
under any covering objective (column). Each covering objective's formula converts data about
the alternatives to values (priorities).
There are five different formula types that can be used in the Data Grid. This lesson discusses
how to use one of these formula types, called RATINGS. Lesson 4 discusses the remaining
formula types.
Alternatives that are added to a model from the Alternatives pane in the ModelView, as
described in Lesson 1 and 2, are known as active alternatives and are automatically added to
the Data Grid. Alternatives can also be added directly in the Data Grid. All the alternatives in
the Data Grid are referred to as global alternatives.
Active alternatives are checked in the grid; Figure 12 illustrates this. You can mark and un-
mark active alternatives and then extract them to the Alternatives pane to refine judgments or
perform sensitivity analyses. Extracting alternatives from the Data Grid will be explained later.
While alternatives appear in the second column of each row of the Data Grid the covering
objectives appear in the remaining column headers, while the ratings appear in the intersecting
cells underneath the column headers. The AID (Alternative Id) column shows the order in
which the alternatives were entered into the model. (AIDs can be turned off and on with the
Tools, Options, View command by selecting the appropriate button in Data and Formulas Grids
pane.)
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The Data Grid also has "Total", "Cost" and user defined columns that can be made visible or
hidden with the View menu command. The value in the Total column for each alternative (see
Figure 1) contains the weighted sum of the values (priorities) for the alternative across all the
covering objectives columns.
Each cell in the body of the Data Grid contains (1) a bar representing the value of the
respective alternative (row element) with respect to the covering objective (column element)
and (2) the underlying data or value (you can ask to see either data or values).
The values in the Data Grid body cells are derived from the data based on one of five formula
types:
Ratings,
Increasing utility curve,
Decreasing utility curve,
Step function, and
Direct data entry.
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We will start by using the model called Ice Cream Site.ahp that is found in the sample models
folder. Figure 2 shows the model.
y Start Expert Choice as you normally would.
y From the Welcome dialogue box select ECSamples; then navigate to and select Ice
Cream Site. ahp from the list. Alternatively, you can select File, Open and then
navigate to the ECSamples models folder (usually found in a root directory) and
select Ice Cream Site.ahp.
Note: Expert Choice files have the extension of ahp. If you are upgrading from an
earlier of Expert Choice your models will have to be converted.
Since we will be explaining how to use Ratings by changing this model, we want you to make a
copy of the model first.
y Select File, SaveAs and when the save model dialogue box appears:
a. Click the Up One Level button for the Expert Choice folder
b. Click the Create New Folder button and type a folder name, such as Models
c. Type MyIcecreamSite and then click Save.
The original model will be closed and the new copy of the model will appear. The
filename of the new model also appears in the "Title" bar.
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The window shows the copied model with four objectives which have already
been prioritized via pairwise comparisons. Notice that there are no alternatives
in the Alternative pane.
Next we will show you the Data Grid and how to move around it.
y From the ModelView, select Go; then select Data Grid (see Figure 3). This model
contains several global alternatives and no active alternatives.
Tip: Clicking the Data Grid tab from the ModelView will take you to the Data
Grid. Or, use the Data Grid shortcut key shown on the Go menu.
You can use the standard window keys to resize the grid as well as individual columns. Notice
the TreeView to the right; if you click on an objective in the hierarchy you will move to the
corresponding covering objective column in the Data Grid. You can use the arrow keys or the
mouse to move around the grid.
Note: If your TreeView pane is not visible, select View from the menu, then select TreeView
pane to make it visible.
When in the covering objectives data entry area, if the Autoadvance option is on (the default)
you will notice a Down Arrow or a Right Arrow on the Data Grid button bar. The
arrow button designates the direction of Autoadvance when entering data in the columns of the
grid. Clicking on the button will change the direction.
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Next we will show you how to enter a new alternative into the Data Grid; then we will show you
how to rate the alternative.
Entering Ratings
There are several ways that Ratings can be entered either using the mouse or keyboard.
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Notice how a Ratings scale appeared above the alternatives on the Data Grid when
you moved to a cell in the Visibility column.
y Since we will be entering ratings for each cell in this row, make sure the Autoadvance
arrow in the button bar is pointing to the right and not down. If it is pointing down, then
click on it once.
Tip: The Autoadvance to the next cell option is on by default. If you do not see an
arrow pointing down or right on the button bar, turn on Autoadvance, by selecting
Tools, Options, Calculation; then select Autoadvance.
y Click OK (the second intensity in the Ratings scale), and that rating will be entered for
My Store with respect to Visibility.
Notice the word "OK" appears in the cell; the bar in the cell indicates the priority value
associated with "OK".
Tip: While at the Data Grid, clicking an objective in the TreeView selects that column in
the Data Grid. If there are sub-objectives associated with that objective you will be
positioned at the first sub-objective. To go to another sub-objective you must click on it
in the hierarchy.
For the Customer Fit objective, try the following four ways of entering ratings into the cell:
y For Customer Fit, press 1, number representing the first rating intensity, "Lots", or
y Type a value between zero and one such as .345, (if you did this, the entry would be
between few (.303) and some (.550), or
y Clear a rating, by pressing Delete.
y Move to Cost and press 2, the number corresponding an "average" rating. Typing with
the keyboard is often the fastest way to enter ratings in the Data Grid.
Now that you have learned how to enter Ratings, we will next show you how to copy a formula
from one covering objective to another.
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y Click the Formula Grid tab . Figure 5 below shows a partial Formula grid.
y Click in the cell in the Type column of the Competitors row.
y Select Edit, Copy Formula
y Click in the Customer Fit row.
y Select Edit, Paste Formula. Compare your results with Figure 5; it shows the Data
Grid before you copied a formula to Customer Fit.
y Click the Data Grid tab and go to the Customer Fit. This column will contain the
copied formulas.
Now, if desired, you can make entries for the alternatives with respect to the copied Ratings
scale, Customer Fit. Remember to change the Autoadvance Right Arrow to point down to
facilitate entering the ratings in this column and enter your ratings as you learned in Resizing
and Moving Around the Data Grid.
Revert Command
The Revert command can be used to revert to a previous version of your model. For example,
should you decide you do want to abandon what you just did, do the following:
y From the Data Grid select Edit, then Revert, or alternatively, click the Revert
button .
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y When the Revert to window is displayed double-click the desired entry; see Figure
6 below. Your revert list may be different.
y In our example, click Original, and the model as originally loaded will be restored.
y Click Revert again; try another selection; we suggest After Save; this way your
alternative, My Store ,will be in the model as we proceed. Got the idea?
Note: The "revert to" selections are deleted when a model is closed
Tip: Instead of using the menu bar, right-clicking in the cell above Customer Fit will
display a drop down menu; then select Ratings.
A new window will appear where you will create a new Ratings scale; see Figure 7 Now you
will re-create the Customer Fit Ratings scale.
y Click in the first vacant Intensity Name column; then click some from the list on the
right
y Move down to the next row, and click little from the list on the right
y Move down to the next row and type few
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Tip: To change an intensity name, click on that intensity, then retype or press F2 (the
standard Windows key) to edit. To delete, move to the intensity name and press the
Delete key.
There are three intensities in this scale, each with a zero priority. For a more robust solution, all
intensity scales should have at least 5 elements; we use three here for brevity.
y Click the Assess button.
You will be taken to the graphical pairwise mode; if you like, you can switch either the verbal or
numerical mode by clicking on one of the tabs.
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y If the Diagonal button is not selected, select Diagonal.
y Click Close.
Figures 8 and 9 show the judgments which you will make using the Graphical mode.
y Drag the bars to (approximately) duplicate our entries.
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Did you notice that the Calculate button has turned from red, to yellow , after making
two entries? When the calculate button is yellow this means not all judgments have been
made, but enough have been made to derive priorities. If desired you could continue making all
judgments; however, in this example:
y Click the Calculate button to derive priorities for the scale.
y After reviewing the displayed priorities, click the Priorities tab , or press
Enter to return to the Ratings definition window. The window now shows your derived
priorities; see Figure 10.
y Click Close to return to the Data Grid.
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Next we will show you how to "extract" alternatives from the Data Grid. When extracted, these
alternatives will be displayed in the Alternatives' Pane of the ModelView, and are then known
as active alternatives. Then you can perform sensitivity analyses on the extracted alternatives
or refine your judgments.
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Entering an Ideal Alternative
An ideal alternative is a conceptual alternative that would receive the highest possible rating
"
under each covering objective in the Data Grid. It is useful to prevent "rank reversal
(discussed extensively in the book Decision by Objectives) as well as to examine how far the
real alternatives are from the Ideal. The latter is sometimes called a Gap Analysis. The "gaps"
can be viewed in either the Total column of the Data Grid or from the Performance Sensitivity
Graph.
If you want to see the same information graphically, extract the ideal alternative and up to 9
other alternatives; follow the directions below.
y Select the Ideal and up to 8 other alternatives by right-clicking their names and a
checkmark will appear to the left of the alternative name.
Note: If you right-click on a selected alternative it will be deselected.
y Extract them to the ModelView's Alternatives' Pane by selecting Edit, Extract to
Selected Hierarchy.
y Select Sensitivity-Graphs then select Performance.
Note: The Ideal Alternative will be shown in this graph as the Hide option was not
selected.
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Also see Adding the Ideal Alternative to the Data Grid in Expert Choices Contents and Index.
Most of the commands learned in this lesson can also be applied to the other formula types to
be explained in the next lesson.
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Lesson 4 - Other Data Grid Functions
Tip: You can access the sample models by selecting Help Sample Models.
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y Then right-click to display the drop-down list; then select Step.
y A dialogue box will appear "This will replace any existing data. Proceed?" Click
OK.
Then the Step Scales window will appear; see Figure 1. It shows intensity names, step
lower bounds and priorities.
We will first illustrate converting an existing Ratings Formula to a Step Formula and then show
how to define a Step Function formula from scratch.
y From Step LB column starting with cheap, type the following lower bounds: 0, 1000,
2000, and 3000.
y If desired you could practice dragging the priority bars or select Assess to view
previously made paired comparisons. Then click the priorities tab to return to the
Step Function Definition window.
y Now click Close the window and return to the Data Grid.
y Type the rental cost for each store: 500, 999, 1100, 3005, 2500, 1000, and 3500.
Now we will show you how to define a Step Function from scratch.
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4. A dialogue box will appear "This will replace any existing data. Proceed?" Click OK.
5. Type an intensity name and low bound for each member of the scale. Negative
numbers can be used.
6. Then you would either drag priority bars to derive priorities or select Assess to
pairwise compare the intensities.
7. Lastly, you would enter data in the Data Grid for each alternative with respect to the
covering objective's Step formula just defined.
That's all there is to the Step Function. Next we will show you how to define and use utility
curves.
Since we will be using this model for the remainder of this lesson make a copy of it as follows:
y Select Help, Samples models directory and navigate to and select Retirement
Places Rated. Alternatively you can select File, Open, ECSamples, Retirement
Places Rated. ahp.
y Select File, SaveAs
y For the model name, type MyRetirement; click Save
y If desired review the paired comparisons made for the objectives and sub-objectives
by selecting Assessment, Pairwise.
y Click the Data Grid tab and familiarize yourself with the content.
This model (Figure 2) uses three different formula types: Ratings, Decreasing and Increasing
Utility curves, as seen by looking at the top of each column in the Data Grid. All the curves in
this model happen to be linear. Data has been entered for each alternative with respect to
each covering objective. (If this data was in a database it could have been imported into the
model using our Data Mapping capability discussed in Lesson 5.)
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Figure 4 shows the decreasing curve. Notice the high and low values for the x-axis;
they are 200 and 75 respectively. Observe that Linear is checked.
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y Change the high x-axis to 250 and low x-axis value to 90.
y Click Apply to make this change permanent.
y Click Close to return to the Data Grid.
Notice that the Low and High Values, now displayed on your Data Grid changed; compare it to
Figure 3 above. Also observe that when you change the definition for a utility curve, the values
in the column remain the same but the priority bars are recomputed automatically. The
priorities may or may not change and this is dependent upon the new scale.
y Return to the Decreasing Utility Curve window by clicking on the Utility Curve tab.
y Drag a point on the straight line down and to the left.
Notice that the linear box becomes unmarked; see Figure 5.
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y Click the Information button to view information entered about this covering
objective.
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Direct Formula
Use the Direct formula type to directly enter priorities (either specified from some source or
perhaps derived in another model) in the range of 0 to 1.
To show you how this works assume that we have priorities for the Movie Theatres in the area
and that we wish to use this information rather than defining a Ratings scale.
y From the Data Grid, click the Movie theatres' node in the TreeView pane. If it is not
shown, click Leisure Living, then click RMGB to display what is beneath these nodes.
y On the Data Grid, right-click the covering objective Movie theatres and select Direct.
y You will be told that the data will be removed (as it no longer applies). Select OK.
Now enter the respective priorities for each alternative retirement location.
y Click the first vacant cell under Movie theatres.
y Type .42 (that is a decimal number between 0 and 1)
y Move down and type 0
y Move down and type 1
y Move down and type .5
y Click the next vacant cell and drag a bar to the right. Stop at the desired priority.
Must Constraints
Must Constraints are parameters upper and lower bounds that an alternative must conform
to. You can define a Must Constraint for each covering objective for which data is entered. In
other words you can not define must constraints for Ratings.
y From the Data Grid, select View, Formulas/Must and then select Musts to turn on
the display of the formulas types that are shown on the Data Grid.
y Move to a desired covering objective and enter either a lower and/or upper
bound.
y Repeat this process for each covering objective that will be subject to must
constraints.
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Note: If an alternative does not satisfy one of the must constraints the alternative is
displayed in red with strikethrough. In addition, the value and/or priority for the
covering objective(s) are displayed in red.
y To redisplay the Formulas, select View, Formulas/Must and then select Formulas
to display intensities or parameters, if applicable.
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Lesson 5 - User Defined Columns & Data Mapping
We also discuss how to map either a user defined columns or covering objective columns to
external databases. Then you can either import data to or export data from Expert Choice.
Note: All features discussed in the section pertain only to group enabled Expert Choice models.
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Mapping in the Data Grid to an External Database
This function is used to map Data Grid column(s) to external database(s). You can map
alternatives, costs, covering objectives and user defined columns. Before a covering objective
can be mapped a formula type must be defined. Once columns are mapped you can import
data from or export data to an external database.
Note: Pairwise comparisons cannot be mapped.
The following example uses Microsofts Northwind Trader database. To obtain a copy of this
file for Access 97 use the following URL
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e4c304c8-b91a-4603-8467-
20215e441528&displaylang=en
To obtain a copy for Access 2000 or later, use
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c6661372-8dbe-422b-8676-
c632d66c529c&displaylang=en
Please follow the installation instructions on this site and put a copy of the Northwind Traders
database in C:\ecsamples\Nwind.mdb
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Mapping Other Columns in the Data Grid
You can create mappings for other columns in Data Grid the same way. However, mappings
for covering objectives can only be made if there is a formula type defined for a covering
objective. See the Data Grid Overview for additional instructions about defining formula types.
Once a column is mapped you can import data from an external database into Expert Choices
Data Grid, or you can export data from Expert Choice to an external database.
Other mapping options include change or delete. First move to the column that will have its
mapping changed or deleted; second select Mapping from the menu or right-click on the map
button of the column and third select your option.
Now we will show you how to import alternatives using the Hawthorne Valley model that was
just mapped to the Northwind Traders database. Then we will show you how to export data
from Expert Choice.
Import Scenario I Importing Alternatives into a New Model from an External Database
1. Construct a new model, entering in objectives and sub-objectives, but no alternatives.
2. From the Data Grid, define a mapping for the Alternative column to an external database
table that contains a field for alternative names, and a field for a map key designator for
each alternative. See the map to external database section.
3. From the Data Grid, select Mapping | Import Data for, or by right-clicking the bridge
button in the Alternative column header.
4. Verify that the Add New Alternatives checkbox is checked.
5. Select OK. Then alternatives and Map Key designators will be added to the Data Grid in
their respective columns.
Try the above scenario by building a new model, mapping to the Northwind database and then
importing alternatives.
1. Start Expert Choice and create a new model, called Scenario1.
2. Since this is an example press Enter when asked to enter a goal description.
3. In the ModelView add 2 objectives called Increase Products Sold and Mitigate Risk by
using the Edit | Insert command.
4. Go to the Data Grid.
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5. Click on the button bar to map the alternatives column to an external database and
follow steps 2-4 in the mapping to external database section.
6. Right-click on over the Alternative column and select Import Data for
7. Select Selected Column Only and checkmark Add New Alternatives. These items
should be selected as they are the defaults.
8. Select OK. Then all alternatives in the Product Name field will be imported.
9. Select File| Save then close the model.
Using the HawthorneUDC model that has mapped alternatives column we show you how to
import additional alternatives from an external database.
1. Open the HawthorneUDC model previously created in the User Defined Column section
and modified in Mapping in the Data Grid.
2. Save the model as Scenario2, using the File | Save As command.
3. From the Data Grid, from the participants drop-down select the either the Combined or
Facilitator instance.
4. Right-click on over the Alternative column and select Import Data for
5. Select Selected Column Only and checkmark Add New Alternatives. These items
should be selected as they are the defaults.
6. Select OK. Then all alternatives in the Product Name field will be imported into the
Hawthorne Valley model with the existing alternatives.
7. Select File| Save then close the model.
Import Scenario III Importing Data for Existing Alternatives from an External Database
1. Starting with a model containing objectives, sub-objectives and alternatives, create a data
mapping for a covering objective or user defined column to which data is to be imported
from an external database. If a map key does not exist for any of the alternatives for
which external data is to be imported, type the map key value in the map key column of
the Data Grid. (You will have to get this information from your database administrator.)
2. From the Data Grid, select Mapping | Import Data for, or by right-clicking the bridge button
in the covering objective or user defined column header.
3. Verify that the Add New Alternatives checkbox is NOT checked. (Otherwise, records in
the external database for which no corresponding map key exists in Expert Choice will be
added as new alternatives in the Data Grid.)
4. Select OK.
The example below shows you how to import data for alternatives in an existing model.
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1. Start Expert Choice and select ImportScenario3 from Ecsamples directory.
2. Select File | Save As to save the model as Scenario3.
This model contains 2 objectives that have been pairwise compared graphically. From the
Data Grid you can see that the first covering objective has a formula type of Increasing
while Risk has been defined as Direct.
3. From the Data Grid, review each mapping by selecting Mapping | Add Change Selected
Column to External Source.
4. Select the first covering objective. Then select Mapping | Import Data for, or by right-
clicking the bridge button in the covering objective or user defined column header.
5. Verify that the Add New Alternatives checkbox is NOT checked. (Otherwise, records in the
external database for which no corresponding map key exists in Expert Choice will be
added as new alternatives in the Data Grid.)
6. Select OK. Then data for the Increasing Products Sold should have been imported.
Note: Our database only contained the first four product ids associated with the Northwind
database used for the alternatives.
7. Select File | Save to save your model.
Import Scenario IV Importing Data for More than one Covering Objectives and/or User
Defined Data.
1. Follow the steps 1 -3 in Scenario III above and then select one of the Data Import Options
below.
Using Scenario3 above we show you how to import data for more than one covering objective.
1. Starting with Scenario 3 above select All mapped Model Columns.
2. Verify that the Add New Alternatives checkbox is NOT checked. (Removing the check, will
only import records into the Data Grid that already contain map keys. If you fail to do this,
then records in the external database for which no corresponding map key exists in Expert
Choice will be added as new alternatives in the Data Grid.)
3. Select OK.
4. Select File | Save to save your model.
Scenario V Special Case Importing Only Some New Alternatives from an External
Database
1. Identify those new alternatives to be added to Expert Choice and from the Data Grid add a
temporary name for each alternative such as A, B, C.
2. In each Map Key Column add each alternatives Map Key.
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3. Select Mapping | Import Data for, or by right-clicking the bridge button in the Alternative
column header.
4. Verify that the Add New Alternatives checkbox is NOT checked. (Removing the check, will
only import records into the Data Grid that already contain map keys. If you fail to do this,
then records in the external database for which no corresponding map key exists in Expert
Choice will be added as new alternatives in the Data Grid.)
5. Select OK and the alternative names associated with the map ids will be imported; then
save your model.
This scenario illustrates importing only some new alternatives from an external database.
1. Start Expert Choice and select File | Open to open Scenario1.
2. Select File | Save As to save the model as Scenario5.
3. Go to the Data Grid and delete all the alternatives by selecting Edit | Data Clear All.
4. Type either the alternative name or a temporary name in the first alternative column, in
this example type X.
5. Move to the Map Key column and type 22. (When prompted about changing the Map Id,
select Yes.)
6. Type another temporary alternative name, Y, in row 2 of the Data Grid.
7. Move to the Map Key column and type 1.
8. Select Mapping | Import Data for, or by right-clicking the bridge button in the Alternative
column header
9. Verify that the Add New Alternatives checkbox is NOT checked. . (Removing the
check, will only import records into the Data Grid that already contain map keys. If you fail
to do this, then records in the external database for which no corresponding map key
exists in Expert Choice will be added as new alternatives in the Data Grid.)
10. Select OK and the alternative names associated with the map ids will be imported; then
save your model.
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y Selected Column Only exports the current mapped column; you must select the
desired column first.
y Add New Alternatives exports new alternatives from the external data base.
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Lesson 6 - Group Capabilities
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Group models of Expert Choice can also use SQL databases and this is controlled by your
license. To use SQL you must have both Microsoft Access 2000 or greater and Microsoft SQL
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7.0 or greater installed on your computer. The SQL server will determine the file's naming
convention and extension.
Note: Only one model is stored per database.
To convert an Access Database to SQL you would use the File |SQL| Save As command. You
can also create a New SQL model or Open and existing SQL model. You also have the ability
to save a SQL model as an Access model. For more information see on-line help; search on
SQL.
Tip: To group enable a model and add participants at the same time select Edit, Add N
Participants.
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addition, the judgments and/or data from the participant row currently selected will be copied to
the new participants.
Deleting Participants
Deleting a participant deletes everything about that participant from the model; this includes all
judgments, associated priorities and data related to that participant. Before doing this you
might want to make a copy of your model for backup and historical purposes. (You may also
want to do a File, Save before deleting participants in case you might want to do an Edit,
Revert during the session.)
y From the Participants Table, select the person to be deleted.
y Select Edit, then select Delete Participant and follow the prompts.
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1. The facilitator will start Expert Choice and select the model name to be opened.
2. If you did not change the default facilitator name discussed earlier in this chapter, select
OK. Otherwise, type your facilitator name; then select OK.
3. If the model is password protected you will be required to enter the password.
Tip: When you open a model as the facilitator, you can switch to view a participants
information in any of the following ways: (1) double click on a person in the Participants
window; (2) use the Participant drop-down list from the ModelView window; or (3) select
Go, Person and enter a number or double click a row.
4. The facilitator must open the combined instance of the model by either clicking on the
Combined instance from the drop-down list, or typing the word, Combined, in the Open
Model dialogue box. You will know when the combined instance is displayed as an orange
border will be displayed around the TreeView.
5. Then if paired comparisons are to be made the facilitator will:
a. Select Assessment; then select Pairwise Individual. If group comparisons have
been previously made you will be returned to the original comparison mode. The
fastest way is to click the Individual button. . Or you can click any
comparison tab from the ModelView's TreeView pane and then select
Assessment, Pairwise Individual.
b. From the Pairwise Individual Window select and display one of the individual
comparison windows by selecting the Verbal, Numerical, or Graphical tab.
If the group will be entering Ratings or data values, the facilitator will:
c. Go to the Data Grid. Select Assessment and then select Individual or select
6. Now is the time to provide instruction and information about the first paired comparison to
be made.
7. Display either the Poll or Vote window.
a. The Poll window shows which keypads voted. This visual will let the facilitator know
who voted without any participants looking at the judgments/votes entered.
b. The Vote window shows the actual judgment entered by each individual.
8. Turn on the keypads so each participant can enter a judgment (vote).
Note: The facilitator may or may not turn the keypads off in between judgments.
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Tip: Turning the keypads off until voting helps the participants focus on discussion by
not voting before discussion has ended.
9. After the participants vote the facilitator moves to the next paired comparison to be made
and repeats steps 4 8.
10. When the comparison process is completed, the facilitator calculates each individuals
priority as well as the group priority.
The facilitator might also choose to configure one keypad as the Facilitator keypad. This
feature provides the facilitator with the mobility to walk around the room rather than being tied
to the computer's keyboard. Also see the Receiver and Keypad Appendix to learn how to use
the hardware.
Also see the sections on Combining Judgments and Data.
For example, if you feel the paired comparison is equal you would press one. If you felt
the comparison was a magnitude of order in difference you would press 9.
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Remember you are not entering a number but are entering short-hand notation for the
verbal comparison being made.
Note: All keypad entries default to the first (left) factor being compared.
y To invert the judgment, switching the dominance of the judgment, from the left to the
*
right or vice versa, you must press (the asterisk key) either before or after pressing the
number that represents the verbal comparison. (To determine if you want to do this, look
at the projected verbal comparison window.)
y To clear a judgment, press the 10 key.
For example, when making graphical judgments pressing the numbers 1 or 2 on the
keypad causes the bar to move left or right in a large increment. Using 4 or 5 moves the
bars moderately, while 7 and 8 move the bars slightly. Lastly the * (the asterisk key)
and the 10 key move the bars a tad.
y Each key press causes the bars to move either to the left or right. Data registration takes
a second, so wait until you see the bars move before depressing another key.
y To invert the judgment, switching the dominance of the judgment, from either the left to
the right or vice versa, you must press 6. (To determine if you want to do this, look at the
projected comparison window.)
y To clear a judgment, press 9.
y To record the graphical judgment, you must press 3.
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For example, if you feel the paired comparison is equal you would press one. If you felt
the comparison was 5 times more important you would press 5.
Note: All keypad entries default to the first (left) factor being compared.
y To invert the judgment, switching the dominance of the judgment, from the left to the
*
right or vice versa, you must press (the asterisk key) either before or after pressing the
number that represents the verbal comparison. (To determine if you want to do this, look
at the projected comparison window.)
y To clear a judgment, press the 10 key.
y Press the number that represents the rating intensity such as 2 for Very Good.
y Press * (asterisk) to enter a decimal point and then enter a number such as 345. To
record the decimal value of .345, you must press *. The sequence of key presses is our
example is *345*.
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y To enter zero, press the ten (10) key.
y To clear a rating, press the asterisk key twice (**).
y Press the number that represents the data value such as 25; then press *. The
sequence of key presses is 25*.
y To enter zero, press the ten (10) key.
Before participants can enter numbers with decimals the facilitator must turn the
decimal option on using the Options Keypad Decimals command on the Individual
Input Window.
y *
First press 0 (the 10 key); then press and then press a number such as 672. To
record the decimal value of .672, you must press *. The sequence of key presses in our
example is 0*672*. To enter a decimal in the middle of the sequence, enter for example
56*3* will cause 56.3 to be entered.
y To enter a negative value, press * for the minus sign, then either enter the number such
as 675 and press * to record. The sequence of presses will be *675*.
y To clear a value, press the asterisk key twice (**).
Each cell, if valued, is assigned a priority based on the bounds of the steps in the function.
y To enter an integer press the series of numbers, such as 765, then press * (asterisk)
Before participants can enter numbers with decimals the facilitator must turn the
decimal option on using the Options Keypad Decimals command on the Individual
Input Window.
y *
Press 0 (the 10 key) to enter zero and press to enter a decimal point. Then enter a
number such as 345. To record the decimal value of .345, you must press *. The
sequence of key presses in our example is 0*345*.
y To enter a decimal in the middle of the sequence, enter for example 56*3* will cause
56.3 to be entered.
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y *
To enter a negative value, press then the number followed by *. If you want to enter
0.5 you would press *0 (the ten key) *5.
y To enter a zero, press the ten (10) key.
y To clear a utility curve value, press the asterisk key twice (**).
Once a participant opens a group model, he/she is ready to make judgments for objectives and
sub-objectives in the decision hierarchy as well as the alternatives or enter ratings or data for
alternatives in the Data Grid. The facilitator will provide you with instruction on what portions of
the model to evaluate.
Participants' Paired Comparison Judgments are made from the ModelView. A participant
will be at this view once the model is opened. To make paired comparisons select on one of
the three tabs shown below. At times the facilitator will use the Assessment | Set Mode
command to set the type of judgment to be made, in which case participants will only see the
appropriate tab.
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The comparison matrix is displayed in the lower pane. The numerical representations of the
verbal judgments are displayed here as numbers from 1 to 9. If the row element (on the left) is
preferred, then the judgment is displayed in black. If the column element is preferred, then the
judgment is "inverted" and displayed in red. When enough judgments have been made to
calculate priorities, they will also be displayed as bar graphs that overlay the row elements.
y Click the Invert button to select the other side of the comparison scale.
When using this option it is highly recommended that you use the Numerical mode
since you are probably saying that you prefer, for example, Apples to Oranges 3 times
more with respect to Craving.
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The comparison matrix is displayed in the lower pane. The numerical equivalents of the
judgments are displayed here as numbers from 1 to 9. If the row element (on the left) is
preferred, then the judgment is displayed in black. If the column element is preferred, then the
judgment is "inverted" and displayed in red. When enough judgments have been made to
calculate priorities, they will also be displayed as bar graphs that overlay the row elements.
y Click the Invert button to select the other side of the comparison scale.
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The comparison matrix is displayed in the lower pane. The numerical representations of the
graphical judgments are displayed here as numbers. If the row element (on the left) is
preferred, then the judgment is displayed in black. If the column element is preferred, then the
judgment is "inverted" and displayed in red. When enough judgments have been made to
calculate priorities, they will also be displayed as bar graphs that overlay the row elements.
Participants Ratings or other Data Grid values are entered from the Data Grid.
To enter a Rating:
y Move to Data Grid cell.
Notice how a scale appeared above the alternatives on the Data Grid when you
moved to a cell.
y Click on a ratings intensity. (You can either click a ratings word located in the first
row in the scale or a ratings number located in the second row in the scale). Then the
ratings intensity will appear in the cell and you should move to the next cell to be
evaluated.
y With the left mouse button depressed in the cell, drag the bar in the cell to a desired
value. This function lets you create a ratings value between two discrete values.
Tip: The Autoadvance to the next cell option is on by default. If you do not see an
arrow pointing down or right on the button bar, turn on Autoadvance, by selecting
Tools, Options, Calculation; then select Autoadvance.
Tip: While at the Data Grid, clicking an objective in the TreeView selects that column in
the Data Grid. If there are sub-objectives associated with that objective you will be
positioned to the first sub-objective. To go to a sub-objective you must click on it in the
hierarchy.
To enter a Data Grid Value for a Utility Curve, Step Function or Direct Priority
y Move to Data Grid cell.
Notice how a scale appeared above the alternatives on the Data Grid when you
moved to a cell.
y Drag a bar in the cell or type a number. Then press Enter or use the arrow keys to
move to the next cell.
1. Start Expert Choice using the Welcome Dialogue box or by selecting File, Open.
2. Navigate to your network folder, MyNetwork Models.
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3. Select GroupArea.
4. When prompted to enter as the facilitator or participant name, press Enter to open as a
facilitator. (If you changed your facilitator name you would have to enter it.) Since a
password was not defined, you will not be prompted to enter one.
5. Close the model, by selecting File, Close.
Now we will show you how to open at model with predefined participants.
1. Select File, Open and select 1 for the first file from the dropdown list,GroupArea.
2. When prompted to enter as the facilitator or participant, type 2 for participant id 2. If we
gave this person a name we could have entered the participants name. If a password
was assigned to this participant you would have been prompted to enter it.
3. Now close the model.
Now we will show you how to enable the model to accept new users with or without a
registering password.
1. Open the GroupArea model as the facilitator.
2. Select Tools, Options, Open. Notice that the first radio button new participants not
permitted is selected.
3. Change this selection to new participants permitted no password required.
Note the copy to options. None (the default) is checked which we will leave for this demo.
If "hierarchy judgments and priorities" was checked then judgments and priorities would
be copied from the facilitator instance of the model to the new participant. The same is
true for Data Grid entries. The prompt the user option lets the participant decide what
copy options to select.
4. Select Close to close the File Open Permission window.
5. Close the model, by selecting File, Close.
6. Reopen the model as a new participant by selecting File, Open and select 1.
7. Type your first name and press Enter.
8. Then you will be prompted to type a password. If you do not want one press Enter.
Otherwise type a password; then you will be asked to retype the password for
confirmation. Then you should be taken to your new instance of the model.
9. Select File, Close to close this instance of the mode and this demo.
To create a model that allows new participants instances with an authentication password you
would repeat steps 1 5 above but replace step 3 with the authentication option and type an
authentication password as required. When instructing a new participant access a model you
would give them the authentication password. They would logon using steps 6-7. After typing
their name; they would enter the authentication password. Then they would use step 8 above
to create a new password if desired.
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Participants can post their judgments and data during a group session on a network by using
the Assessment, Post command. The facilitator should combine participants' judgments and
data after a group session using a network especially if participants are working in a different
place and time environment. The facilitator will use the File, Refresh command to do this.
Additionally the facilitator using either the keypad or network capability might want to combine
certain participants to see a subset of the decision. The next section describes this.
One way to do the above is to select and deselect who will participate by checking and un-
checking the participating column in the table and then selecting the Combined button to
invoke the selection.
A second way is to select a predefined SQL query from the drop-list at the bottom of the
Participants table and then select the Combined button.
A third way is to define a new SQL query and then select the Combined button.
Additionally the facilitator can combine judgments and data from the ModelView or data from
the Data Grid. When one of these choices is selected the active query defined in the
Participants table will be used to combine the information, replacing what was previously in the
combined instance.
Now we explain some queries followed by the instructions to combine from the Participants
table, ModelView or Data Grid.
Two pre-defined SQL queries, "all", and "participating" can be applied by clicking on command
buttons located at the bottom of the Participants window. The SQL queries generated and
applied for these command buttons are:
All: Select * from People order by PID (Person ID) This query selects all participants in the
model and includes those with and without checkmarks in the Participating column of the
Participants table.
Participating: Select * from People where Participating order by PID This query only selects
those instances (participants) whose participating column is checked.
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The facilitator can enter and apply any valid SQL query to select the set of active participants.
Some examples are as follows:
Select * from People where age >=15 order by PID (this assumes age is a defined column in
the Participants table.)
Select * from People where age >=15 and Participating order by PID
Select * from People where NOT Participating order by PID
SQL queries can also be saved in the model (for later retrieval) using the Save button at the
bottom of the window and then specifying a name to identify the query.
Tip: It is suggested that the Facilitator examine the Participants table to ascertain that
the desired set of participants are active before combining judgments and/or data.
All participants entered into the database are initially considered active. If you want to make
someone inactive, you must click on his or her participating column to remove the checkmark.
Note: The Combined instance contains the results of the model that is based on the SQL
query currently in affect.
Combining judgments and/or data can only be done by the facilitator. This process can be
accomplished from various menus and windows. Each is described below; to learn more about
this refer to Expert Choices main on-line help, Contents and Index.
What is Combined
Judgments, as well as data, for the active participants will be combined and placed in the
"combined" section of the database with a PID of 1, and loaded into memory where the results
can be reviewed, synthesized, or analyzed in sensitivity graphs. In addition, the Combined
Column of the Participant table will be checked so one will know it is a combined instance.
In the newly copied combined model's Goal node, you may wish to include information about
the active participants used to form the combination.
Tip: The facilitator can combine different parts of a model with different sets of active
participants. For example, people with expertise in one area might make judgments
about one cluster of objectives in the decision hierarchy, while another group of people
expert in another area might make judgments about a different cluster. Still another
group might enter ratings or data in all or parts of the data grid.
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Combining From the ModelView
y Select Combined from the Participant drop-down list.
y Select Assessment; then select Combine Participants Judgments/Data.
y Select Entire Hierarchy (other options include Plex or Current node).
A dialogue box will appear asking you to select::
Judgments (in hierarchy) only,
Data only, or
Both
Selecting judgments will combine those participants judgments that are considered active;
active participants are based on the SQL query at the lower left-hand portion of the
Participants table. Selecting Data will only combine the data for the active participants.
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Lesson 7 - Web Models and the Internet
System Requirements:
Internet Information Server (IIS) running on Windows XP, Windows NT 4.0 or Personal Web
Server (PWS) running on Windows NT Workstation, or Windows 98 (or equivalents).
Expert Choice software should be installed on client computers for both the facilitator and
participants. Note: Expert Choice software does not need to be installed on the web server.
Overview How Web Models, the Internet and Expert Choice Work
1. The facilitator creates a group model either on the destination Web server, or on a client
computer. If the model is created on the client's computer it must be uploaded to the
server.
2. To access the model on the server, the facilitator must create an ODBC System Data
Source Name (DSN).
3. The facilitator, using Expert Choice on his/her machine, can access the model via a Web
connection and can add to or revise the model structure. This must be done when no
participants are accessing the model. Note: The Edit Revert commands are, however,
NOT available when editing a model via a Web connection.
4. Participants using Expert Choice on their computers can access the model via a Web
connection to make judgments, enter data, and examine their results.
5. The Facilitator combines the groups' judgments and or data (for all or active participants)
and makes the results available to the participants.
If you use an Intranet put the model on the shared drive and tell the participants the location of
the model; for example, F:\models\ExpertChoiceModelName. See the section, Accessing a
Model over the Web.
If you use the Internet follow the directions below to put the model on the Internet server.
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model that is on the web server can be accessed if you have a copy of Expert Choice on your
computer.
This section outlines how to create a System Data Source Name (DSN) that points to an
Expert Choice Access database model located on a web server (Internet). For SQL
Databases see Creating a Remote DSN for a SQL Model.
1. You must create a new Access Database Expert Choice model or transfer a previously
created model to the server computer.
2. From the Start menu select Settings, then Control Panel.
3. For Windows 98 systems: Select ODBC32 Data Sources or ODBC DATA SOURCES
(32bit).
For NT systems: Select ODBC Data Source.
For Windows 2000: Select Administrative Tools, Data Sources (ODBC).
4. Select the System DSN tab, see Figure 1.
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6. Type a Data Source Name to name the model to be accessed with Expert Choice; see
Figure 3. Then click Select.
7. Now either navigate to or type the path/file name that contains the desired Expert
Choice model. The path/file name must include the extension .ahp.
Note: If desired you can type *.ahp to see a list of all Expert Choice models.
8. Click OK to go back to ODBC Data Source Administrator; see Figure 4. Then click OK a
second time to complete the System DSN process.
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An additional step may be needed to host web models using a Windows XP machine. It is
described below.
1. Make sure Windows Personal Web Server is installed on your computer. If you do not
know if it is installed, contact your system administrator.
2. Select the Window Start button | Setting | Control Panel | Administrative Tools and
double click on Internet Information Services button.
If the button doesnt exist or if you get a message stating that Information Services are
not available stop what you are doing and contact your system administrator.
3. Double click on your local computer; double click on Web Sites.
4. Right-click on the Default Web Site and create a new virtual directory by selecting New |
Virtual Directory. See the figure below.
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Figure 5 Window showing Local Computer Name and Default Web Site
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6. When prompted for the Virtual Directory Alias type MSADC and click Next.
7. When prompted for the Web Site Content Directory, type the MSADC system directory,
usually at C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\msadc (shown below) and click
Next. You might receive a message stating that execute and write are dangerous do
you want to do this? Select Yes.
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8. Make sure the following access permissions are set as shown below and click Next.
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Should you experience any difficulty setting up a DSN, read the following three items and
contact your database administrator.
Virtual Directory
A virtual directory called MSADC must exist on the root of each Web site. This virtual
directory must point to the \Program Files\Common Files\System\MSADC folder. The
permissions of this folder must be set to Execute (Including Script) (Internet
Information Server [IIS] 4.0) or Scripts and Executables (IIS 5.0). The MSADC virtual
directory must exist as a subdirectory of any Web site that uses RDS.
IP Exclusion
If a user's IP address is excluded from accessing the MSADC virtual directory, RDS
will not work for the site in his or her browser. Make sure that no IP exclusions exist for
the MSADC folder that will interfere with the site's use. This setting is configured in the
Properties of the MSADC folder on the Directory Security tab. Click Edit in the IP
Address and Domain Name Restrictions section. A dialog box will appear showing the
configuration of the site's IP restrictions. Unless there are specific restrictions that need
to be applied for the site, this should allow access to all IP addresses and should not
exclude any.
Now that the model has a DSN it can be accessed from the server that is on a network, using
Expert Choice which is installed on the facilitator and participants' computers.
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Now that the model has a DSN it can be accessed from the server that is on a network, using
Expert Choice which is installed on the facilitator and participants' computers.
Now that you have permission to access the model over the Internet or Intranet you are ready to
open your model.
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Lesson 8 - Resource Aligner - Resource Allocation
Expert Choice's Resource Aligner is a way to select the best combination of alternatives,
projects, vendors, and the like that maximize (optimize) the attainment of objectives while not
exceeding a specified budget. You can also specify other constraints such as time, people,
dependencies and the like. The optimization module contains a variety of forms that enable a
wide variety of constraints to be specified and utilizes algorithms that are exceptionally fast.
This feature can be purchased separately as an Expert Choice add-on.
Expert Choice's Resource Aligner is extremely flexible and can accommodate a wide variety of
circumstances. In order to facilitate understanding how it can be used, we will first describe
two basic forms of resource allocation Discrete Alternative Resource Allocation (DARA) and
Activity Level Resource Allocation (ALRA). A Discrete Alternative Resource Allocation
considers a set of alternatives, each of which may or may not be funded. An Activity Level
Resource Allocation considers a set of alternatives, each of which may be allocated funds at
one of a given number of possible funding levels. Hybrids of these two basic types of resource
allocation are possible as well as extensions involving different types of constraints.
The following discussion may require some knowledge contained in Resource Allocation
Terminology section and assumes the reader has a working knowledge of Expert Choice
how to create and evaluate models.
can also be accessed from the DataGrids button bar .This module extracts information
about all or a selected subset of alternatives from the Expert Choice Data Grid for evaluation in
the allocation of scarce resources (money, time, people, space, etc.).
Before using RA you should have derived priorities for the alternatives under consideration
assessing the objectives in the objectives hierarchy, and assessing the alternatives by making
either pairwise comparisons from the Expert Choice ModelView, or assessment in the Expert
Choice Data Grid, or a combination of the two. In addition you must enter costs for each
alternative in the Data Grid's Cost column. (If the Cost column is not visible, use the View |
Cost command). It is not uncommon to iterate once or twice through a sequence of evaluation
objectives, evaluating alternatives, specifying constraints, and optimizing to select the best
combination of alternatives.
Additional information about resource allocation can be found in the Resource Allocation
chapter of "Decision by Objectives" published by World Scientific Publishing or available at
http://www.expertchoice.com/dbo/ or http://mdm.gwu.edu/forman (where a TV Video and
screen capture videos are also available).
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Activity Level Resource Allocation: Considers a set of alternatives, each of which may be
allocated funds at one of a given number of possible funding levels.
Optimal Solution: The identification of a set of alternatives to be fully or partially funded such
that the total benefit is maximized (optimal) while none of the constraints are violated.
Benefit: The priority or benefit representing the relative contribution of each alternative toward
the objectives as defined and derived in the Expert Choice model; this is the numeric value
shown in the total column of the Data Grid.
Constraints: Constraints are conditions that must be satisfied in order to have a feasible
solution. Each and every specified constraint must be satisfied.
Base Case Maximum: The maximum benefit achievable if the Budget Limit is at least large
enough to fund all of the alternatives and no other constraints are in effect.
Custom Constraints: General purpose constraints (to be discussed in detail later) can be
defined to represent a wide variety of limits such as limits on floor space, limits on full time
equivalents such as personnel, limits on time availability, etc. You can optionally specify a min
or max range; if either is specified then the optimization will try to solve for the range.
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Resource Aligner - Main Window
The Resource Aligner window contains all or the selected alternatives from the Data Grid,
their benefits (priorities) and costs. The Partial column is used to specify that an alternative
can be partially funded instead of funding it in its entirety; while the Must and Must Not
columns are used to specify that an alternative must or must not be funded.
The Funded column will display YES for alternatives that the optimization determines should
be funded in their entirety or a percentage, if the alternative can be partially funded. The total
cost to fund the alternatives identified in the optimal solution is shown in the Funded Cost box.
The benefit for the optimized solution (the sum of the benefits for the alternatives to be
funded) is shown in the Benefits box. Since the benefits can be normalized in a variety of
ways in the Data Grid, a relative benefit is also shown as a percentage of a Base Case
Maximum. The Base Case Maximum is the maximum benefit achievable if the Budget Limit
is at least large enough to fund all of the alternatives.
Note: Right-clicking in the Budget Limit provides you with the ability to either Clear the Budget
Limit or to set the Budget Limit to the Total Cost without Constraints.
It is possible to adjust the Base Case Maximum to discount the impact of one or more of the
constraint types. This is done by clicking Set Base Case and selecting one or more of the
following: Musts, Must Nots, Custom Constraints, Dependencies, Groups and Funding
Pools. Two examples that illustrate this are:
If an Activity Level Resource Allocation is performed, group constraints will preclude
funding alternatives at more than one level. If one considers funding all levels of all
alternatives in the base case, then it would never be possible to achieve 100% of the
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base case maximum, even if an unlimited amount of funds were available. By
selecting Set Base Case | Groups, the base case maximum is reduced because it is
computed with the group constraints in effect. This feature is particularly useful when
there are groups that preclude more than one alternative from being selected.
There may be agreement that one or more alternatives NOT be funded, under any
circumstances. If this were the case, and the base case maximum were calculated
without considering these MUST NOT constraints, then the maximum benefit
achievable with an unlimited amount of funding available could never be as large as
the base case because of the MUST NOT constraints. By selecting Set Base Case |
Must-Nots, the base case maximum is reduced because it is computed with the
must-not constraints in effect.
The Ignore options can be used to request that any of the constraints (or risk specifications)
be ignored in the optimization. This is convenient if it is desired to temporarily disable one or
more constraint types and see what effect it has on the solution. Note: If you check a
constraint type in both the Set Base Case, and in the Ignore options something that doesn't
really make sense to do then it is possible to achieve a Benefits Percentage greater than
100%.
In some cases, there may not be any feasible solution that is it may not be possible to satisfy
all of the constraints specified. Expert Choice will, of course, report that there is no feasible
solution when this condition arises. However, when this happens, there is no unique set of
constraints that lead to this condition. For example, you may have specified that at least one
alternative in each of five groups be funded, but the budget isn't large enough to fund these
alternatives. If the available budget constraint were relaxed by making more funding available,
then a feasible solution might be found. Alternatively, if the amount required to fund one or
more of the alternatives were decreased, or if the number of groups that had to have at least
one alternative funded were decreased, a feasible solution might be found. The number of
combinations of constraints that result in infeasibility can be quite large when we consider must
constraints, must-not constraints, custom constraints such as full time equivalents, floor space,
funding pools constraints, and so on.
Expert Choice provides a Feasibility Switch option to help in determining either when the
addition or change of a constraint causes a switch from a feasible specification to one that is
infeasible or vice versa. This switch, if selected will be green when there is a feasible solution
and red when there is no feasible solution, but more importantly, will signify when a switch
between the two states occurs. If for example, you add a constraint that makes what was a
feasible solution infeasible, you will know that this new constraint, in combination with whatever
constraints were previously specified, makes it impossible to solve all of the constraints.
Conversely, if you have an infeasible solution, you can investigate ignoring or changing
specific constraints in an effort to find a feasible solution.
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Discrete Alternative Resource Allocation Optimization (DARA)
A Discrete Alternative Resource Allocation considers a set of alternatives, each of which may
or may not be funded.
.
The Resource Aligner window contains all or a subset of alternatives from the Data Grid,
their benefits (priorities) and costs. (A subset of alternatives is achieved by right-clicking
on the desired alternatives in the Data Grid so they come checked and then selecting
Tools | Resource Aligner.)
The Partial column is used to specify that an alternative can be partially funded rather
than funding in its entirety or not funded at all; the Must and Must Not columns are used
to specify that an alternative must or must not be funded.
Since the initial budget limit is blank, no alternatives are funded; see the FUNDED
column.
4. Enter a budget limit in the budget limit box textbox.
5. An optimal solution one that maximizes the benefits without exceeding the available
budget or violating any other constraints is obtained by pressing the Solve button.
However, if AutoSolve is checked, then a solution will be automatically sought whenever
any specification is changed, without having to press the Solve button. .
The solution details consist of:
a. Which alternatives are funded identified with a yellow background and entries in
the 'FUNDED' column
b. The total amount required to fund these alternatives shown in the Cost box in
the header.
c. The total benefit and relative total benefit from funding the selected alternatives
6. Even though the budget may be 'fixed', it is usually informative to examine what would
happen if the budget started at 0 and gradually increased. Do this by selecting Go To |
Increasing Budgets and accept the defaults.
1. Load the Hawthorne Valley model from the Expert Choice Samples directory. When
prompted for a participant name, press Enter.
2. Make a copy of this model by selecting File | SaveAs
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3. Since this is a group model, go to the Combined instance by selecting Combined from
the instance drop-down list.
4. From Expert Choice the menu select Go | Data Grid.
5. Select Tools | Resource Aligner.
Expert Choice will formulate the optimization problem and you will be taken to the main
resource allocation window where you can control the optimization process.
Note: Expert Choice determines if a discrete or activity level optimization should be
performed based on the absence or presence of activity levels also known as GROUPS.
There are no groups in the Hawthorne Valley example.
The initial display should not show a solution. If the model was previously used then a
solution will appear.
Figure 2 Initial Main Resource Aligner Window for Model Not Solved
6. Type a budget limit of 30,000, in the budget limit box. All but three items have been
funded.
If the AutoSolve box is not checked, select File | Solve or press the Solve button to view
the results.
Note: If Autosovle is checked then every time any variable, constraint or value is changed
a new solution will be sought.
7. Type a new budget limit of 50,000. The results now show that all but two alternatives are
funded. The Funded Cost box in the header shows how much funding is expended; this is
the sum of all the funded alternatives costs.
Note: If your model is not exactly like ours your results may be slightly different.
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8. Optimize for Increasing Budgets by selecting Go To | Increasing Budgets and accept the
defaults; then select Solve. The figure below shows our results. For more information
about this features select Increasing Budgets. When done close the window.
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9. From the main resource allocation menu select Custom Constraints | Add Constraint.
10. When prompted type the constraint name, Sup Wks for supervisor weeks.
The figure below shows the new constraint column and the results of the optimization
based the data entered. Use the figure and follow the instructions below.
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11. Enter the number of weeks required of the supervisor for each activity (alternative) as
shown in the figure. Notice some rows do not require supervisor time.
12. If you are following along and 2 decimal places are not shown in the custom constraint
column select View | Format | Constraint Cells and add a zero to the end of the format
that is displayed. Adding a zero will allow 2 decimals to be shown to the right of the
decimal place.
13. Suppose that only 4 weeks of supervisor time are available. Since this is your maximum
allowable value, type a 4 in the Max row of the new constraint column. If you had a
minimum requirement, it would be entered in the Min cell.
14. Since AutoSolve is checked, the new solution incorporates the constraint.
Note: The Actual cell displays the amount used.
15. To ignore this constraint from the solution, check the Ignore Custom Constraints box in
the header and review the new 'solution'.
16. To see all items defined in the optimization, select View | Model Specification. Ours is
shown below.
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17. Select View | Constraint Summary to see a summary of the Musts, Must Nots, Custom
Constraints, Dependencies, Groups, Funding Pools and Risks. You are told there are
none.
18. Remove the check from Ignore Custom Constraints.
19. Select View | Constraint Summary then close the window.
20. Now we will add Dependencies to our model; to do this select Go To | Dependencies.
21. Turn off the alternative id column by selecting View | Neither. Our Dependency Table is
shown below. It shows the Dairy Chart Recorder is dependent on Barn Electricity; the
Solar Greenhouse and Hot Water Heater are mutually dependent; while the Crating
System is mutually exclusive of the Dairy Structure Work. Steps 23 and 24 will show you
how to recreate our table.
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26. Our model has both constraints and dependencies. We can tell this as included items are
shown in bold in the Ignore section of this window.
Assume we want the dependencies to be incorporated in the Base Case. Check
Dependencies in the Base Case Includes box. The figure below shows the changes to
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the Base Case Maximum and Percent. For more information see Resource Allocation
Terminology.
27. Now we will show you how to add Risks to this model. From the main resource allocation
window, select Go To | Risks.
28. Change the probability of success from 1 to value in the range of 0 1.0. See the figure
below where we illustrated this by changing the first three alternatives. Alternatively you
can enter the risk in the risk column. There is no requirement that each line item be
changed. View your results. To remove the probability of success either enter zero in the
Risks column or enter 1 in the probability of success column.
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29. Upon return to the main resource allocation window the benefits box will be labeled 'E.
Benefits' if risks are defined. Should you checkmark Ignore Risks then the label will be
'Benefits'.
30. Select File | Close and return to Expert Choice's Data Grid. If desired save your changes.
Other resource allocation features will be discussed in the Activity Level Resource Allocation
example.
Use this feature when one is considering funding groups of alternatives at various levels of
funding.
1. From Expert Choice load your model from the desired directory.
2. If you desire to back up your model, select File | Save As before proceeding.
3. Select the desired 'instance', usually the Combined instance if a model is group
enabled.
4. From Expert Choice the menu select Go | Data Grid.
5. Select Tools | Resource Aligner.
6. Since the initial budget limit is blank, no alternatives are funded; see the FUNDED
column.
7. Enter a budget limit in the budget limit box.
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Note: If you right-click in the budget limit cell you can enter the maximum allowable
budget limit without any constraints.
8. From the main Resource Aligner window select Go To | Groups.
When using our Resource Aligner groups of alternatives can be defined to assure that
one of the following three relationships exist among the alternatives in a group:
1) At most one alternative in the group will be selected (that is no alternatives or
one alternative in the group will be selected)
2) Exactly one alternative in the group will be selected
3) At least one alternative in the group will be selected
9. Select Add Group. Then type a group name and select one of three group types that
are listed above.
10. Now add alternatives to the group in one of two ways.
a. Select an alternative; then from the Groups window select Alternative | Add
alternative to group; repeat as necessary.
b. Select multiple alternatives by CTRL clicking; then press Shift | drag with
mouse to the desired group name and release the mouse.
11. When you are done defining groups and adding alternatives close the window and you
will see the results in the main Resource Aligner window.
An optimal solution is one that maximizes the benefits without exceeding the available budget
or violating any other constraints is obtained by pressing the Solve button. However, if
AutoSolve is checked, then a solution will be automatically sought whenever any specification
is changed, without having to press the Solve button. The solution details consist of:
a. Which alternatives are funded identified with a yellow background and entries in
the 'FUNDED' column.
b. The total amount required to fund these alternatives shown in the Cost box in the
header.
c. The total benefit and relative total benefit from funding the selected alternatives.
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4. Select Tools | Resource Aligner to go to the main resource allocation window.
5. Initially, the budget limit is blank and therefore no alternatives are funded; see the
FUNDED column.
6. Enter a budget limit of 75000 in the budget limit textbox.
7. Since AutoSolve is checked, there is no need to press the Solve button. Observe the
solution details consisting of:
a. Which alternatives are funded identified with a yellow background and entries
in the 'FUNDED' column.
b. The total amount required to fund these alternatives shown in the Cost box in
the header.
c. The total benefit and relative total benefit from funding the selected alternatives.
Notice that more than one level from the same activity is funded for example, see Level
1 and Level 3 for Palmer Park Nuisance Abatement; this needs to be changed. To make
sure that no more than one level is funded for each activity we will define eight groups
each and specify that no more than one level can be funded from each group.
8. Select Go To | Groups.
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9. Select Group | Add Group. Using the figure below, name the first group Suitland
Nuisance and select LE1 (Less than or Equal to 1 meaning either no alternative or one
alternative in the group will be selected).
10. Using the figure as an example, define the remaining seven groups similar fashion. When
you are done you will add alternatives to each group.
11. Select the first group, Suitland Nuisance.
12. While the Control key is depressed click the first three alternatives in the alternative
list. Select Alternative | Add alternative to group to add them to the Suitland Nuisance
group.
13. Repeat the process to add alternatives to the other groups, or, instead of using the
Alternative | Add command, drag/drop alternatives after they are selected by pressing the
Shift key and dragging and dropping the alternatives on the group name. For more
information see the Groups command.
14. Select File | Close to return to the main resource allocation window.
15. If AutoSolve is not on, select Solve to see the solution with eight groups defined.
Note: If your model is not exactly like ours your results may be slightly different.
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Next we will show you how to add Funding Pools. Let us assume that there are two pools of
funds that can be used to fund the alternatives and let us assume that the second group can
only fund Environmental Designs.
16. From the main resource allocation window, select Go To | Funding Pools. The figure
below shows the two funding pools that we have defined, Prince Georges County and
Federal with Pool Limits of $25,000 and $50,000 respectively. The left-hand pane also
shows the amount from each pool that can be applied to each alternative. The right-hand
pane contains the optimal solution showing the amounts to allocate to each alternative
from each of the pools. To enter values move to the desired cell and enter the amount. To
learn about pasting funding pool values from Excel see the Funding Pools section.
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Resource Aligner Menu Commands
Resource Aligner File Menu
The File Menu commands are:
Solve solves the optimization when executed. If AutoSolve is checked then a solution
is sought whenever a variable or constraint is changed.
Reports generates either single or multiple resource allocation reports. Reports can
be exported to various programs including Word, Excel and PDF. For example, to export
to Word select RTF format and name the file with an extension of .doc. Also remember
designate the drive\path to contain the report.
Note: To change the formatting of a report go to each individual Resource Aligner
window and drag the columns and/or rows as desired; then select File | Print.
Print displays a preview of a report or multiple reports that can be printed.
Print Preview previews the item to be printed.
Close closes the optimization; then you can to save variables that have been added,
changed or deleted from the current optimization session to your Expert Choice model.
To add a custom constraint use the figure above and follow the instructions below:
1. From the menu select Custom Constraints | Add Constraint.
2. When prompted type the constraint name.
3. If applicable, type a constraint value for each alternative. Custom Constraints are not
required for every alternative.
4. Type a minimum and/or a maximum constraint value. (If either is entered the optimization
will try to solve for the min and/or max range.)
Note: If you do not enter either a minimum or maximum value per constraint column the
constraint will be ignored by the optimization.
5. If AutoSolve is checked in the Resource Aligner main window, then the best solution will
automatically be shown in yellow. If not, press the Solve button.
Copying and Pasting Values into Custom Constraints from Excel (or another source
document)
1. Use the Windows Edit Copy command to copy the values to the clipboard (Ctrl C) from
the source document.
2. Click the desired Funding Pool cell in Expert Choice's Resource Aligner.
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3. Then press Ctrl V to paste the contents of the clipboard to the desired column.
Tip: Make sure your format footprint can accommodate the largest value. For example
$#,### will not accommodate $1, 000,000; the format needed is $#,###,###. If you do not
want to display the dollar sign or commas do not include them in the footprint.
Select Model Specification to see the all formulas defined in the optimization.
Select Constraint Summary to see a summary of the Musts, Must Nots, Constraints,
Dependencies, Groups, Funding Pools and Risks that are defined.
Select Total Costs without Constraints shows the total cost of all the alternatives
without any constraints. Total Costs without Constraints can also be imported into the
Resource Aligner main window by right-clicking in the Budget Limit box.
Dependencies
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Funding Pools
Groups
Risks
Increasing Budgets
Dependencies
Use this window to specify one of three dependencies between alternatives in the resource
allocation process.
Below is a Dependency Table for the Hawthorne Valley model that shows the Dairy Chart
Recorder is dependent on Barn Electricity; the Solar Greenhouse and Hot Water Heater are
mutually dependent; while the Crating System is mutually exclusive of the Dairy Structure
Work. If desired, load the model and try the directions below.
D the row element depends upon the column element. The optimization assures that the row
element is not funded unless the column element is funded.
M the row and the column are mutually dependent; both must be funded or neither is funded.
X the row and the column are mutually exclusive; funding one precludes funding the other.
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Select OneClick from the Dependencies menu and select an option. Move to the desired
cell and click; then the option will be entered. To select the same option for another cell
just move to the cell and click.
To delete a dependency, move to the cell, right-click and select Clear. Alternatively you can
use the Clear menu command.
To clear the entire dependency table, press Clear from the menu then press Clear All.
Funding Pools
Use this feature to create pools of funds that will be used in the resource allocation
optimization as another constraint when selecting the optimal set of alternatives. The sample
window below contains the name of the alternatives and costs that were extracted from the
Data Grid. Notice the Pool Limit is grayed out in the extracted costs column as this field is not
used. The window below shows that we have defined two funding pools, Prince Georges and
Federal, with the respective limits of 25,000 and 50,000. The amount of funds entered for each
alternative is shown in the respective funding pool's cells. If an alternative is funded it is
highlighted. The functions are listed below.
Add Funding Pool adds a funding pool to the resource allocation process.
Remove Funding Pool removes the selected funding pool.
Rename changes the funding pool name.
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Remove All Funding Pools removes all funding pools from the resource allocation
process.
Copying and Pasting Values into Funding Pools from Excel (or another source
document)
1. Use the Windows Edit Copy command to copy the values to the clipboard (Ctrl C) from
the source document.
2. Click the desired Funding Pool cell in Expert Choice's Resource Aligner.
3. Then press Ctrl V to paste the contents of the clipboard to the desired column.
Groups
The Group window is accessed from the Resource Aligner Go To menu command and is used
to add or delete group constraints to be used in the optimization. When using our Resource
Aligner groups of alternatives can be defined to assure that one of the following three
relationships exist among the alternatives in a group:
At most one alternative in the group will be selected (that is no alternatives or one
alternative in the group will be selected)
Exactly one alternative in the group will be selected
At least one alternative in the group will be selected
The following figure, solely for illustrative purposes, shows that three groups have been
defined and in this example they named as the id legend described above. The Activity Level
Resource Allocation example, Hotspots, shows an actual example.
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Add Group is used to define a group and select one of three group types that are listed
below.
o At most one alternative in the group can be selected.
o Exactly one is selected.
o One or more are selected
Remove group is used to remove a defined group and all of its members.
Edit group is used to change the group name and/or the group type.
Remove all groups is used to remove all groups and members.
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Colon Notation for Activity Level Resource Allocation
Activity Level Resource Allocation Optimization, discussed earlier, explains how to create
Groups to designate activities and levels within each activity. Basically a group is defined for
each activity (such as Marketing) and the alternatives from the data grid representing possible
levels of funding within each activity (such as Marketing Bare Bones, Marketing Status
Quo, and Marketing Gold Plate) assigned to their respective group. If you define alternative
levels in the data grid using colon notation such as the following, then Expert Choice will
automatically define groups for you:
The colon notation consists of a common prefix, followed by a colon, followed by a descriptor
for a level of funding.
It is customary to enter the levels in the data grid in either increasing or decreasing sequence.
Typically (but not always), the total priority for levels with more funding will have a higher total
overall contribution toward objectives; see the Total column of the Data Grid.
The first time the Expert Choice resource allocation module encounters alternatives/levels
defined using the colon notation, it will prompt to determine if at least one level must be
selected from each activity. The response to this prompt will determine whether the groups
that are automatically established will be "less than or equal to one LE1", or "equal to one
EQ1". After the groups are automatically defined, you can, of course, edit any group to change
its name, type, or components.
HotspotsWithColonNotation.ahp in ECsamples illustrates Colon Notation. If you open this
model first set your budget limit to $75,000 if not already set.
Risks
The Risks window can be accessed from the Go To menu. Initially the benefits and expected
benefits are the same the Ttotals column from the Data Grid in the Expert Choice model.
You can enter the probability of success between 0 and 1.0, in which case the risk will be
computed as its complement, or you can enter risks between 0 and 1.0 and the probability of
success will be computed. If any one or more alternatives has a probability of success < 1.0,
then the 'Benefits' in the main RA form will be changed to display 'Expected Benefits'.
The following figure shows the first several alternatives with risks that are not zero for
illustrative purposes. Note the benefits and expected benefits are no longer the same; the
expected benefit equals the benefits times the probability of success.
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Copying and Pasting Values into Risks or Probability of Success from Excel (or another
source document)
1. Use the Windows Edit Copy command to copy the values to the clipboard (Ctrl C) from
the source document.
2. Click the desired Funding Pool cell in Expert Choice's Resource Aligner.
3. Then press Ctrl V to paste the contents of the clipboard to the desired column.
Increasing Budgets
1. From the Resource Aligner Go To menu, select Increasing Budgets.
2. If desired, check "Insure funded alternative remain funded as the budget increases". Use
this feature to prevent funded alternatives from being removed from the funding process
once it is funded.
3. Accept the default radio button of 25 increments. If desired you can increase or decrease
the number of increments. Alternatively you can select one of the other options.
a. Specified Amount (where you can enter a value such as 1,000)
b. Minimum Cost (starting at 1,000)
c. Minimum Difference of Costs (starting at 100)
4. Select File | Solve to create a report.
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The middle section of the window shows two reports. Both display the budget amount, the
benefit expressed as a percentage based on the derived alternatives priorities from Expert
Choice and the cost to implement the budget. The report on the right lists the funded
alternatives for each budget in each column while the report on the left lists each alternative on
a separate line with the word funded in each budget column.
The lower portion of the window displays the Efficient Frontier graph; the y axis represents
percent and the x axis is the unit cost.
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Lesson 9 - About Reports and Output to Word & Excel
Should you map to or from an external database using Access or SQL you can generate
custom reports. See Lesson 5.
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Nodes in the hierarchy, information documents and notes from the Expert Choice model can be
Output to Word. The purpose of the Output feature is to provide an editing capability in Word.
Once in Word, you can edit node names, information documents and notes and then import
your changes back into the Expert Choice model from which the export was invoked.
Note: When outputting to Word, you must include the option to include hidden IDs. (These IDs
are used to associate what is in Word with the appropriate nodes or alternatives in the Expert
Choice model during the Import (Input) process).
The purpose of the Input feature is to import the edited document back into the same Expert
Choice model.
Hierarchy to Word
This Output feature provides the ability to create a Microsoft Word document of the hierarchy,
information documents and notes with or without numbering. Once in Word you can edit the
document and then import the changes back into the same Expert Choice model. Both the
Hierarchy to Word and Number Hierarchy provide the capability to include or exclude:
Information documents, Notes of the current instance, Active Participants Notes as defined by
the SQL query in affect from the Participants table and Hidden Id's as well as borders around
each item.
Notes of the current instance means the notes of the instance that is shown in the window prior
to selecting Hierarchy to Word. This could be the combined, facilitator or specific participant.
Note: When outputting to Word, you must include the hidden IDs if you are going to Import
your changes back into the Expert Choice model. (These IDs are used to associate what is in
Word with the appropriate nodes, information documents or notes in the Expert Choice model
during the Import (Input) process).
Warning: It is a good idea to make a back up of your Expert Choice model prior to importing
your Word file back into Expert Choice. In addition Hidden IDs are required for importing back
into Expert Choice.
The purpose of the Input feature is to import the edited document back into the same Expert
Choice model.
Tip: If you want to delete an information document or note in Word replace all the
verbiage with "X". Then when you open the Expert Choice information document or
note delete "X and the information document or note will be deleted.
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The Number Hierarchy to Word scenario numbers all objectives and sub-objectives in the
hierarchy. For example:
1. Objective 1
1.1 Sub-objective
Sub-objective
2. Objective 2
To view the hidden Expert Choice styles directly in the Word document
1. From the Normal view of Word, select Tools | Options.
2. Click the View tab and select Hidden text in the Formatting marks section.
To view all the Expert Choice styles exported to Microsoft Word, in Word select Format |
Style.
Alternatives to Word
This feature provides the ability to create a Microsoft Word document of all alternatives in your
model or only those extracted to the ModelView. Once in Word you can edit the document and
import the changes back into the same Expert Choice model.
Warning: It is a good idea to make a back up of your Expert Choice model prior to importing
your Word file back into Expert Choice. In addition Hidden IDs are required for importing back
into Expert Choice.
The created Word file contains hidden Expert Choice formatting that shouldn't be changed if
you choose to import information back into Expert Choice as these styles are used to
differentiate the nodes in the hierarchy from information documents, notes and alternatives.
To view the hidden Expert Choice styles directly in the Word document
1. From the Normal view of Word, select Tools | Options.
2. Click the View tab and select Hidden text in the Formatting marks section.
To view all the Expert Choice styles exported to Microsoft Word, in Word select Format |
Style.
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Data by Instance
This Excel document shows the selected alternatives by active instance (participant) and data
entered per covering objective for each alternative.
Values by Instance
This Excel document contains the selected alternatives by active instance (participant) and
values derived per alternative/participant for all covering objectives. Values are derived by
applying data to each formula associated with each covering objective.
Priorities by Instance
This Excel document contains the selected alternatives per active instance (participant) with
respect to 2 objectives and the priority of the alternative.
Totals by Instance
This Excel document shows the selected alternatives by active instance (participant) and total
priority.
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151
Area Validation Exercise Appendix
Expert Choice provides decision-makers with the framework to derive ratio scale priorities or
weights from experience, insight and intuition as well as from hard data. Expert Choice not
only assists decision-makers in structuring complexity and exercising judgment, but also
incorporates both objective and subjective factors used in the decision.
One of the advantages of the Expert Choice pairwise comparison process is that weights, or
priorities, are not arbitrarily assigned, but are derived from verbal, numerical or graphical
judgments. We know this method for deriving priorities is reliable since it is based on a sound
mathematical foundation. The AHP foundation has been proven through numerous validation
studies. Refer to www.expertchoice.com for books and technical references.
The following exercise demonstrates the validity of the results that Expert Choice derives by
showing that your results, obtained by using subjective judgments, come close to known
values.
This exercise should take approximately 15 minutes of your time and is most worthwhile. It will
help you actually visualize how Expert Choice assists decision-makers in making more
accurate decisions. The objective of the exercise is to make judgments on the relative sizes of
the areas (see Figure 1 below) in pairs to find the percentage that each shape contributes to
the total area of the five figures.
C
D
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What do we mean by relative sizes? In the example below area B is twice as big as area A,
area C is three times as big as area A. This is what is meant by relative size: how many times
bigger one shape is than another. Measuring things in relative terms has a great advantage.
The relative comparison is the same, no matter what scale is used: inches, centimeters or
something else.
Notice that the ratio of these decimals are meaningful; the two squares are twice as big as the
single square therefore, B/A = .333/.166 = 2. The three squares are three times as big as the
single square: C/A = .500/.166 = 3. So when you compare how much bigger B is over A, you
would use the number 2 from fundamental scale of Expert Choice.
The numbers in the fundamental scale are absolute numbers and independent of the scale
used. If you enter 2, you mean the larger shape is two times the smaller one. If area B is 2
times bigger than area A, it is always two times bigger, regardless of the units you use to
measure the areas.
The purpose of this validation example is to find the decimal proportion of each area in Figure
1 to the total area, using Expert Choice and your judgments. You will perform a series of
pairwise relative comparisons, first using the numerical mode and then using the verbal mode.
From your judgments Expert Choice will calculate the relative areas of the shapes. You can
then validate the results by comparing how close they are to the actual measured areas.
In the course of the validation exercise you will fill out information in Table 3. In column 1 you
put your own estimate as described in step 1 below. In column 2 you will put results obtained
from using the numerical comparison mode of Expert Choice. In column 3 you will put results
obtained using the verbal comparison mode of Expert Choice. In column 4 you will write the
actual results.
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y Print (or photo copy) a copy of Figure 1 and Table 3 by selecting this page from the
online tutorial; then press the Print button.
y Jot down your unaided estimate (expressed as a decimal) of the proportion each area
is to the sum of the areas in Column A of Table 1. (To help you, assume you are
allocating a total of $1.00 to the shapes according to the size of their respective
areas.)
After performing the validation exercise compare the accuracy of your unaided
estimates with those that Expert Choice derived from your pairwise judgments.
4. Go to the Numerical Comparison window by selecting . Then the first two elements to
be compared will be presented in the window. (There should be no judgments in the
matrix that appears at the bottom of the screen. If judgments exist return to the
ModelView and select Assessment, Erase Nodes for the Entire Plex. After erasing return
to the Numerical Comparison window)
Looking only at the two shapes being compared and using Figure 1 as an aid visually
estimate the ratio of the larger to the smaller. Keep in mind that for the purpose of this
area validation example, the comparative adjective "Importance" is analogous to bigger.
For example, if you estimate that one area is 3 times larger than the other you would click
the number on the side of the indicator bar for the larger area. (Alternatively, you could
enter the judgment in the matrix below such as 4.5. If you do this, remember to select the
invert button if the column element is more important than the row element then the
judgment will appear in red.)
Keep in mind that you must select the dominant side of the numerical indicator when
making judgments.
5. If you did not advance to the next judgment to be made, click the next vacant cell in the
matrix at the bottom of the window. Then make the next judgment.
6. Repeat this process until all judgments have been made.
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7. After the last judgment is made you will be asked if you want to record your judgments,
select No.
8. Now select the calculate button to display your derived numerical priorities.
9. Note: If your inconsistency is high (greater than 0.10) you might want to re-evaluate your
judgments as you probably made a clerical error. To do this, click the Numerical tab and
adjust your judgments changing only what you are convinced is in error. For more
information about inconsistency see Inconsistency in Lesson 1.
10. Enter these derived priorities in Column B of the Area Validation Table that you printed.
Before continuing with the Verbal portion of this exercise we answer a few commonly asked
questions about comparisons and judgments.
Validation Questions
Q: Why are we interested in validating verbal comparisons?
A: Because almost every decision contains subjective or qualitative factors that do not
readily lend themselves to numerical judgments. It is difficult to justify numerical judgments for
the relative importance of clean air compared to clean water. To overcome this impasse,
Expert Choice uses the words EQUAL, MODERATE, STRONG, VERY STRONG, and
EXTREME. Words are often easier to justify than numbers. For example, if you say that given
our current environment, cleaning up the air is 3 times more important than cleaning up the
water, can you justify why it is exactly 3? Why not 2.5, or 4.0? But if you said, instead, that
clean air is moderately more important than clean water, this can be justified with a variety of
arguments, including, perhaps, some hard facts.
Q: Although verbal judgments are often easier to make and justify, how can we
combine them and be assured of their validity?
A: True, anyone can put arbitrary numbers behind words in a computer program and then
add the numbers. But with Expert Choice the same fundamental numerical scale is used to
derive ratio scale results for each group of comparisons, and these ratio scale numbers can be
combined to give meaningful results.
Q: Even if the decision maker specifies numerical equivalencies for words, will
he/she, or a group of his/her colleagues consistently remember the assignments
accurately enough to insure that the results reflect their judgments? Will errors due to
the use of imprecise words be a problem?
A: Not with Expert Choice! Even if different individuals or a group attached different
interpretations to the verbal scale, the results will still be accurate, as you will now see.
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Now erase your numerical judgments and derived priorities.
1. From the Goal node, select Assessment.
2. Select Erase Judgments for Entire Plex and when prompted select Yes.
3. Go to the Verbal Comparison window by selecting . Then the first two elements to be
compared will be presented in the window.
Looking only at the two shapes being compared and using Figure 1 as an aid visually estimate
the dominance of the larger to the smaller only using WORDS.
1. Now enter a verbal judgment by clicking on the word that represents your feelings.
2. If you do not advance to the next comparison, click the next vacant cell in the matrix below.
3. Repeat this process until all judgments have been made.
4. When asked to calculate judgments, select No.
5. Now click the calculate button to calculate and display the derived priorities.
Note: If your inconsistency is high (greater than 0.10) you might want to re-evaluate your
judgments as you probably made a clerical error changing only what you are convinced is
in error. To this, click the Verbal tab and adjust your judgments. For more information about
inconsistency see Inconsistency in Lesson 1.
6. Enter these priorities in Column C of Table 1 that you printed.
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Conclusion
What does this show? That you can derive reliable results using judgments.
When you estimated the relative areas of these shapes without using Expert Choice, your
thought process probably included a scale of measure for each figure, perhaps in combination
with a mathematical formula. The unit of measurement might be square inches, square
centimeters, or perhaps your thumbnail. If you were to actually use a measuring device, for
example a ruler, your results would (aside from measurement error) be perfect. However, you
are able to derive relative measures almost as well using your judgments.
Incidentally, direct measurement error is usually considerable, as you will find if you try it using a
ruler and some geometric formulas. Often both Expert Choice methods, numerical and verbal,
are better. Measurement error is often a factor when you are dealing with data, too. Your
judgments may give you results that are closer to reality.
In solving this area problem using verbal judgments with Expert Choice, you did not use a scale.
The significance of being able to derive priorities from pairwise judgments (verbal or numerical)
is that accurate priorities can be derived for any aspect of a decision no matter whether it
involves quantitative, qualitative, objective or subjective elements! If you can estimate physical
quantities so well with Expert Choice, based only on your judgment, it is likely that you are also
able to estimate priorities in situations that do not involve physical quantities for which no scale
exists, such as market appeal, satisfaction, risks, and intangible benefits.
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Receiver and Keypad Appendix
This section provides basic information for connecting and activating the hardware (receiver
and keypads) used in Expert Choice. We use the Reply Cordless Response System. For
detailed information consult the hardware documentation that accompanied your hardware.
The Radio Frequency Receiver and keypads are produced differently for different countries.
You must specify the countries where you plan to use the receivers as the radio frequency
bands differ by country. A schematic is packed with the hardware.
Individual Wireless keypads come with the system. Each participant uses a keypad to enter
judgments or values. A maximum of 250 keypads can be used with the system.
Projector
There are numerous high quality projection systems available today. It is important to test the
software with the projector prior to a group session to ascertain that the screen resolution of
the computer and projector are compatible and that the colors are displaying properly. In
particular, check to see that the projector contrast is set so that gray colors are visible and are
not washed out.
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Programming the Keypads
Each keypad must be uniquely identified with its own internal number to enable Expert Choice
to identify each participants input. These numbers are easy to program or change as
explained below.
You should make certain that your keypads are properly labeled and uniquely identified
BEFORE conducting a group session. For example, if you have ten decision-makers in the
meeting, you will need ten keypads numbered from 1 to 10 internally, with corresponding
external labels. It is also possible to have, for example, 10 decision makers use 8 keypads by
selecting the "wave" option in the software and have eight people in the first wave, and two in
the second wave. The two in the second wave would use a neighbors keypad to make their
judgments.
*
"A" when the is depressed. If this does not happened use the above steps to program the *
substituting the code 931 for a keypad number.
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How the Hardware and Keypads are Activated
Once the receiver is connected to the computer, you can turn on the Radio Receiver either
before or after starting Expert Choice.
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increase the wave number to 2. (This also requires that you change persons 9 12 to
wave number 2 in the Participant Table.)
y Keypads off when you move If this box is checked the keypads will be turned off
when you move to a new judgment to be made or a new cell in the Data Grid to be
rated or valued. This feature permits the facilitator to control when judgments or data
will be entered.
y Autokeypad If this box is checked then software will always attempt to turn on the
keypads when a model is loaded.
y Anonymous If this box is checked then participants names, if entered are masked to
person 1, person 2 etc. Future participants will also be masked.
y Templates button displays and prints the keypad templates as a participant aid. One
template can be used when making verbal or numerical paired comparisons as well as
entering Ratings or data values when at the Data Grid. The other template can be
used when making graphical judgments.
You can reach the Keypad Options window from any paired comparison window or the Data
Grid.
y From ModelView select Assessment then select Pairwise.
y Then select Assessment Individual.
y Then from either individual window select File Keypads Options. You will be taken to
a window where you will enter the information just specified.
Tip: You may select any valid keypad number as the facilitator keypad; for simplicity we
suggest using number 1. If you select this option many features can be accessed using
this keypad rather than using the keyboard. Note: The facilitator keypad remains active
(on) whenever the Receiver is on. (Should you use this option the facilitator keypad is
not available for participant use.)
Facilitator Keypad
The facilitator keypad is used in conjunction with the facilitator menus to help the facilitator
customize Expert Choice for his or her specific use by logically and conveniently grouping
commands that will be frequently used with the facilitator keypad. Ten different menus can be
defined. We have provided several default menus that can be altered and restored at any time.
The facilitator can modify our menus and create others.
y From any Individual Pairwise or Individual Data Grid window, select File, Facilitator
Menus. The default menu will appear; you can select another by changing the Menu
number in the window.
y Review the default menus and if desired print them. After becoming proficient with
Expert Choice you may desire to change or create new menus.
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y To name a menu or change the name of a menu, click the gray bar in the top center of
the window and type the desired name.
y To add a command to a facilitator menu, move the cursor to the row where you want
to add the command. Then select the desired command from the command box.
Repeat this process as necessary.
y When finished editing the facilitator menus click OK to make the changes permanent.
y To select a facilitator menu to be used select File, Facilitator Menus, then select a
number from the drop-down list. Click OK.
Tip: Use the File Keypad Options command from any individual window to set the
facilitator keypad before or after selecting a facilitator menu.
Tip: Pressing 10 on the facilitator keypad will hide or show the current facilitator menu
on the computer and/or projection device. Note: The menu does not have to be visible
to perform an action.
Several facilitator menus for the ModelView's Assessment Pairwise Individuals Window and
the Data Grid's Assessment Individuals Window have been defined. These menus can be
used by the facilitator with his or her keypad. We show the first menu for each view.
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Problem: There is a gap in the keypad number sequence or two or more decision-
makers appear to be using the same keypad number. (You know the latter
has happened when one person announces that someone is erasing his/her
judgments.)
Solution: Check the keypad numbers and you will find a gap in the numbers or that
one or more keypads have been set to the same number. Change the
keypad numbers as described above.
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Expert Choice Glossary
Absolute Measurement
Absolute measurement is used when the alternatives are compared against previously
established scales rather than relative to one another. See Relative Measurement.
Active Alternatives
Alternatives displayed in the ModelView's Alternatives pane are known as active alternatives.
They can only be inactivated but not deleted. See: Global Alternatives
Active Participants
Those team members who are participating in the decision-making process. 1) Active
participants have been selected as a result of invoking an SQL query from the participants
table. 2) The results of the query were applied to the combined instance of the database. This
process enables one to define many participants and have different participants make
judgments about various facets of the model.
Affinity Diagramming
The process of creating, dragging and dropping objectives and sub-objectives in the Affinity
Diagramming module of Expert Choice that creates a hierarchy in the ModelView. Also see
Top Down Structuring
Alternatives
The alternatives are the options from which a choice is to be made. In a decision model the
alternatives can be evaluated in two ways:
Relative comparisons - alternatives are directly compared to one another using the pairwise
process.
Data Grid - alternatives are evaluated against a standard or scale that has been developed.
Assessment
Assessment involves making pairwise comparisons between objectives, sub-objectives, and
alternatives of the decision. These are all made relative to the node above.
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Autoadvance
Autoredraw
One of two TreeViews Redraw commands; it is the default. When you move to a node in the
hierarchy, the tree will automatically be redrawn about this node showing its descendants while
Best Fit
This command is used to examine inconsistency. It identifies the judgment that is the most
inconsistent and suggests what changes should be made to reduce inconsistency from a
mathematical perspective. As a decision-maker you must determine if this is logical and what
changes in judgment should be made versus what is recommended.
Bottom Up Structuring
A structuring process used to construct a model by first identifying alternatives; second
identifying pros and cons for the alternatives; third converting pros and cons to objectives and
sub-objectives. This approach is useful when more is known about the alternatives of choice
than the objectives. See Top Down Structuring (Affinity Diagramming).
Budget Limit
Budget Limit is an optimization constraint representing the budget that is available.
Child Node
A child node is a sub-objective of the node above it. The node above is also known as the
parent node.
Cluster
A cluster consists of a node and its peers.
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ClusterView
Now known as Affinity Diagramming, the ModelView's Affinity Diagramming pane is used to
enter and cluster objectives and sub-objectives into categories. Any structural changes made
in the Affinity Diagramming pane will be updated simultaneously in the ModelView's TreeView
pane.
Comparisons - Modes of
There are three ways to enter pairwise comparisons: verbally, numerically and graphically.
Complete Hierarchy
A complete hierarchy (model) has the same alternatives under each covering objective (lowest
level objective) in the hierarchy. This is the default. See Incomplete Hierarchy.
Covering Objective
A covering objective is defined as the lowest level sub-objectives in the hierarchy (TreeView).
In the Data Grid, the covering objectives are displayed as columns while the alternatives are
displayed in the rows.
Criterion / Criteria
A criterion is a principle or a standard that an element is judged by and is often represented as
a lowest level sub-objective. Throughout Expert Choice, the words criterion and objective are
used interchangeably. The plural of criterion is criteria.
Data Grid
The Data Grid lists all alternatives in the model. Alternatives can be selected for extraction to
the Alternatives pane of the ModelView. The Data Grid is also used to evaluate alternatives
with respect to each covering objective in the model using one of five different formulas:
Ratings, Step function, Increasing or Decreasing utility curves, and Direct entry of priorities.
Diagonal Pairwise
When making pairwise comparisons, one option is to make judgments on the diagonal of the
matrix. This feature uses the minimum number of comparisons necessary to calculate
priorities.
Diagonal Pairwise can also be used with the Data Grid to assess intensity scales that were
created with the formula types of Ratings or the Step function.
Distributive Synthesis
The Distributive mode, sometimes called a "closed system", distributes the weight of each
covering objective to the alternatives in direct proportion to the alternative priorities under each
covering objective.
When using the distributive synthesis mode, the addition or removal of an alternative results in
a re-adjustment of the alternatives of the other alternatives such that their ratios and ranks can
change. The distributive mode should be used when measuring under conditions of scarcity
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for example when forecasting outcomes whose probabilities must add to 1, or when looking at
elections where votes cast for one candidate may be at the expense of another.
Feasible/Infeasible Solution
If it is possible to satisfy all constraints, using our optimization module, Resource Aligner, the
solution is said to be feasible. Otherwise, it is said to be infeasible.
Formulas Grid
This grid displays the Data Grid's formulas per covering objective as well as its parameters.
Use this grid to copy and paste formulas from one objective to another.
Formula Type
Formulas for can be defined for Data Grid covering objectives. There are 5 types: Ratings,
Step Function, Increasing and Decreasing Utility Curves, and Direct Entry of Priorities.
Gap Analysis
By establishing the distance that every alternative ranks from the ideal alternative you can
perform a gap analysis; this can be viewed from the Data Grid. In addition, you can extract the
ideal alternative and up to eight other alternatives from the Data Grid to the Alternatives Pane
of the ModelView and then view the performance sensitivity graph for another form of gap
analysis.
Geometric Average
The geometric average, also known as the geometric mean, is a progression and is the nth
root of a product of n numbers. If you have two numbers 6 and 24, the geometric average is 12
(6x24=144 raised to the power). If you have three numbers, 1, 3, and 9, the geometric
1/3
average is 3 (27 ).
The Weighted Geometric Average is the product of each participants judgment raised to the
weight of the participant. For example, if there are three participants with weights as defined
in the participants table of .5, .25, and .25, and with judgments of 3, 2 and 4 respectively, then
the weighted geometric average would be: (3^.5) * (2^ .25) * (3 ^.25)
Geometric Indicator
The Geometric Indicator displayed from the Ratings Individual window shows the amount of
variance in a set of group judgments. The more inconsistent the judgments the higher the
indicator. See Geometric Variance.
Geometric Variance
1. The geometric variance is calculated by taking the ratio of each judgment to geometric
mean.
2. If the result for each judgment is < 1 invert the judgment.
3. Multiple all judgments.
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4. Raise the results to the nth root. For example if there are 4 judgments the nth root would
be 4. The result will range from 1 to 9 (or maximum of scale if using the graphical mode).
Mathematically the equation is: geomVariance = Log(result) / (Log(maxJudgment))
Global Alternatives
All alternatives displayed in the Data Grid are known as global alternatives. Only global
alternatives can be deleted from the model. If you want to include a subset of the global
alternatives in the ModelView's Alternative pane you must select and extract them. See: Active
Alternatives
Global Priority
The priority of each node relative to the Goal is called the global priority. The global priorities of
a node represent the portion of the parent's priority inherited by the child. The global priorities
of all the children equal the parent's global priority. The global priority of a child equals the local
priority of the child times the global priority of the parent. See Local Priority and Priority.
Goal Node
The goal node represents the problem to be solved and appears at the top of the hierarchy.
Grandchild
A grandchild node is a sub-sub-objective of two nodes above it.
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is a tree-like structure that is used to decompose a decision problem. It has a top-
down flow, moving from general categories (objectives) to more specific ones (sub-objectives
and sub-sub-objectives).
Ideal Synthesis
An Ideal synthesis mode, sometimes called an "open system", assigns the full weight of each
covering objective to the best (highest priority) alternative for each covering objective. The
other alternatives receive weights under each covering objective proportionate to their priority
relative to the best alternative under each covering objective. The weights/priorities for all the
alternatives are then normalized so they sum to 1.0.
When using the ideal synthesis mode, the addition or removal of alternatives (that are not best
on any covering objective) will NOT impact the relative priorities (ratios or ranks) of other
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alternatives. The ideal mode should be used when selecting one alternative from many and
when the priorities of the alternatives not selected are not of interest.
Incomplete Hierarchy
An incomplete hierarchy (model) has different alternatives under each covering objective. To
convert a complete hierarchy model to an incomplete hierarchy you would first select File,
Convert to Incomplete Hierarchy; this will remove the alternatives that are displayed in the
Alternatives pane and place them below each covering objective in the TreeView. Second
delete any alternative that does not belong under each covering objective. See Complete
Hierarchy and Converting to an Incomplete Hierarchy.
Theoretical Information
The Inconsistency INDEX, not ratio, is calculated for each node (and its cluster of children),
and multiplied by the priority of the node, and summed over the entire model. A similar
calculation is done for the Inconsistency INDEX for random judgments. The Overall
Inconsistency Ratio is the ratio of these two weighted sums.
===========
It has been shown that for any matrix small perturbations in the entries imply similar perturbations
in the eigenvalues; thus the eigenvalue problem for the inconsistent case is:
A w = lambdamax w,
where lambdamax will be close to n (actually greater than or equal to n) and the other lambdas will
be close to zero. The estimates of the weights for the activities can be found by normalizing the
eigenvector corresponding to the largest eigenvalue in the above matrix equation.
The closer lambdamax is to n, the more consistent the judgments. Thus the difference, lambdamax -
n, can be used as a measure of inconsistency (this difference will be zero for perfect consistency).
Instead of using this difference directly, Saaty defined a consistency index as:
(lambdamax - n)/(n-1)
since it represents the average of the remaining eigenvalues.
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In order to derive an accurate interpretation of either the difference or the consistency index,
Saaty simulated random pairwise comparisons for matrices up to and including 9 factors,
calculating the consistency indices and arriving at an average consistency index for random
judgments for each size matrix. He then defined the consistency ratio as the ratio of the
consistency index for a particular set of judgments to the average consistency index for
random comparisons for a matrix of the same size. Forman later improved on the simulations
by increasing the simulations for matrices up to and including 15 factors, increasing the
number of simulations to improve the accuracy, and also performing simulations cases with
missing judgments. (Inconsistency ratios have not been computed for matrices larger than 15
x 15 since it is strongly recommended that clusters in AHP models be no larger than 7 plus or
minus 2 in size as discussed in Decision by Objectives section heading "Channel capacity and
short term memory".)
Since a set of perfectly consistent judgments produces a consistency index of 0, the consistency
ratio will also be zero. A consistency ratio of 1 indicates consistency akin to that which would be
achieved if judgments were made at random rather than intelligently. This ratio is called the
inconsistency ratio in Expert Choice, since the larger the value, the more inconsistent the
judgments.
Expert Choice also reports an Overall Inconsistency ratio, which is a weighted average of the
inconsistency ratios throughout a model. Note: Because inconsistency ratios have not been
calculated for matrices larger than 15 x 15, no Overall Inconsistency ratio will be reported for
models containing a cluster larger than this size.
Information Document
Used to enter information about the goal, a particular objective, sub-objective or alternative in
the hierarchy. When using a group model this feature is only available to the facilitator.
Instensity Scales
When using the Data Grid, Intensity Scales are used with either Ratings or the Step function to
measure data. These scales are often made up words such as Very Good, Good and Poor.
The scale is then pairwise compared deriving priorities by which the alternatives are then
compared.
Invert
This command switches the order of dominance between nodes in the pairwise comparison
process.
Judgment
Dictionary.com defines judgment as "The act or process of judging; the formation of an opinion
after consideration or deliberation." A judgment expresses the strength of importance,
preference or likelihood of one element over another with respect to the node above when
making a Pairwise comparison. Usually the judgments are made through a series of pairwise
comparisons, although judgments can also be made by entering priorities directly, using
Assessment, Direct which we do not recommend.
Judgments are also made from the Data Grid, by comparing each alternative with respect to
each covering objective's formula type of Ratings or Direct entry of priorities. See Judgments
vs. Data.
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Local Priority
The local priority represents the percentage of the parent node's priority that is inherited by the
child. The local priorities of the children of a node also sum to one. See: Global Priorities and
Priority
ModelView
The main Expert Choice window shows one of the following: the TreeView (hierarchy of
objectives), alternatives and an Information Document for the current node; Affinity
Diagramming pane, or the Pros/Cons pane. When in Affinity Diagramming you can see all the
objectives and alternatives (top down structuring). When in the Pros/Cons pane you can see all
the pros and cons and the alternatives that they point to (bottom up structuring). For more
information see the Tutorial Structuring Lesson.
Node
Nodes represent the elements of a decision. A node may represent the goal, an objective, a
sub-objective or an alternative.
Note
Each node of a model can have a corresponding note. The note may include detailed
information that isn't in the definition, such as the information that was considered for a
judgment. It is most useful when the group feature is enabled because each participant can
enter his/her own comments. Notes can also be defined for each cell in the Data Grid.
Objective
An objective is something that is sought or aimed at in a decision. The word, objective, is
sometimes interchangeably used with criterion or attribute. However it is Expert Choice's
position that an attribute will point to a criterion and a criterion will point to an objective.
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Optimal Solution
Optimal Solution, in a resource allocation, is the identification of a set of alternatives to be fully
or partially funded such that the total benefit is maximized (optimal) while none of the
constraints are violated.
Parent Node
A parent node is any node in hierarchy that has children.
Plex
A Plex is defined to be the current node and all of its descendants.
Priority
The priority of a node is a numerical value represented as a percentage of one. It is derived
from pairwise comparisons with respect to the parent node. The local priorities of the children
of a node add up to one. The global priorities of a node represent the portion of the parent's
priority inherited by the child. The global priorities of the children also sum to the parent's
global priority. The global priority of a child equals the local priority of the child times the global
priority of the parent.
Ratings
Ratings is a Data Grid method used to evaluate a large number of alternatives. Scales of
intensities are developed and prioritized; these measures are then used to judge each
alternative. Also see Intensity Scales.
Redraw
The two redraw commands redraw the hierarchy, in the TreeView, about the current
(highlighted) node showing its descendants.
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Autoredraw , the default, will automatically redraw the hierarchy about the current
node when you move to it and collapse other portions of the hierarchy
Redraw only works if Autoredraw is off. You must move to a node and double-click to
expand or collapse that portion of the hierarchy.
When at the ModelView's TreeView, depressing the first letter of a node name (or a series of
characters) will take you to that node. This feature is not available from the Data Grid's
TreeView.
Relative Measurement
In contrast to absolute measurement, relative measurement refers to the measurement of the
priorities of the objective, sub-objective and alternatives as determined by comparing elements
to each other. See Absolute Measurement.
Resource Allocation
Expert Choice's Resource Aligner is a way to select the best combination of alternatives,
projects, vendors, and the like that maximize (optimize) the attainment of objectives while not
exceeding a specified budget. You can also specify other constraints such as time, people,
dependencies and the like. The optimization module contains a variety of forms that enable a
wide variety of constraints to be specified and utilizes algorithms that are exceptionally fast.
Sensitivity Analysis
Sensitivity Analysis is used to investigate the sensitivity of the alternatives to changes in the
priorities of the objectives. There are five types of sensitivity analyses: Performance, Dynamic,
Gradient, 2-D plot, and Head-to-Head. Analyses can be performed from the Goal node or from
the current node in the hierarchy such as an objective.
Sibling Node
Nodes that appear at the same level in the model, relative to the parent node, are known as
siblings.
Step Function
The Step Function is one of five Data Grid Formula types and is similar to Ratings in that it
consists of a scale or prioritized intensities. However the Step function automatically calculates
the appropriate intensity for each alternative based on data entered in the Data Grid rather the
using a word from a scale. Also see: Intensity Scales.
Structural Adjust
When making paired comparisons, the Structure button is used to structurally adjust a set of
priorities based on the number of the current node's grandchildren. This feature should be
used when you wish to prevent the dilution of the global weight of a grandchild simply because
it has many siblings.
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Structuring
This feature of Expert Choice facilitates the hierarchy building process by: 1) clustering
objectives (Affinity Diagramming), or 2) defining alternatives and their associated pros and
cons and then converting them to objectives.
Sub-objective (Sub-Criterion)
A sub-objective is a lower level objective of a parent.
Synthesis
This process shows the overall solution by synthesizing (combining) all global priorities for
each alternative and then presents the results in graphic format. A synthesis can also be
performed for other nodes in the hierarchy; this is known as an intermediate synthesis.
TreeView
The term TreeView in this manual refers to an Expert Choice hierarchy containing objectives
and sub-objectives.
Utility Curves
Two utility curves available from the Data Grid include either Increasing or Decreasing curves,)
Like the step function, utility curves translate data into priorities. Where as the step function
consists of discrete steps, a utility curve is continuous. In addition to being increasing or
decreasing, either type can be linear or nonlinear, and when nonlinear, concave or convex.
What-if
What-if analysis can be performed with the Sensitivity Analyses Graphs to determine how the
overall result would change if the priorities of the objectives were changed.
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Index
2 Autoadvance 168
2D Plot 36 Autoredraw 27, 168
A B
About the Expert Choice Tutorials 1 Base Case Maximum 168
Absolute Measurement 167 Best Fit 22, 168
Access and SQL Database 90 Bottom up Structuring 168
Accessing a Model Over the Internet or Bottom Up Structuring (Affinity
Intranet 117 Diagramming) 168
Accessing a Model over the Web 117 Budget Lilmit 168
Activating Hardware 161 Budget Limit 168
Activating Keypads 161 Building a Model Using Bottom-up
Active Alternatives 65, 167 Structuring 45
Building an Expert Choice Model 13
Active Participants 167
Building the Hierarchy 47
Activity Level Resource Allocation 167
C
Activity Level Resource Allocation
Example - Hotspots 132 Child Node 168
Activity Level Resource Allocation Cluster 168
Optimization 131 Clustering Ideas 39, 42
Adding Alternatives 43
ClusterView 169
Adding (Entering) Alternatives in the
Colon Notation for Activity Level
Alternatives Pane 17
Resource Allocation 141
Adding (Entering) Objectives to the Combining Judgments and or Data 105
TreeView 15
Common Keypad Troubleshooting
Adding / Entering Objectives 41
Questions 165
Adding an Alternative to the Data Grid 58
Comparing the Alternatives Using the
Adding Participants to your Group Model. Numerical Mode 25
91 Comparisons - Modes of 169
Adding Sub-Objectives in the TreeView
Complete Hierarchy 169
16
Conventions Used in this Quick-Start
Affinity Diagramming 167
Guide 11
All Pros and Cons List 47 Converting Pros and Cons to Objectives
Alternatives in Data Grid 58 48
Alternatives to Word 149 Copying Formula Types 60
Alternatives: 167 Copying Judgments and/or Data when
Area Validation - Verbal 156 Adding New Participants 91
Covering Objective 169, 170
Area Validation Numerical 156
Creating 70, 75, 77
Assessment 167
Decreasing Utlity Curve 75
Assessments / Pairwise Comparisons
Overview 18 Increasing Utility Curve 77
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Step function 70 E
Creating a Group Model 90 ecsamples 1, 54
Creating a Group Model & Adding Embedded Documents 50
Participants 90 Entering a Rating 58
Creating a Group Model / Group Entering Alternatives 43
Enabling 90
Entering Alternatives in the Alternatives
Creating a Ratings Scale 61
Pane 17
Creating a Remote Access DSN Model
Entering an `Ideal' Alternative 67
109
Entering Objectives into the TreeView 15
Creating a Remote DSN for a SQL
Expert Choice Model 116 Entering Objectives to the TreeView 15
Creating a Remote DSN for a SQL Model Entering Pros and Cons of the
116 Alternatives 45
Creating a Remote DSN Model 109 Entering Sub-Objectives in the TreeView
16
Creating a Step Formula From a Ratings
Formula 69 Entering Verbal Judgments for the
Objectives 19
Criterion / Criteria 169
Exporting Data to an External Database
D
86
Data Grid 56
Extracting Selected Alternatives from
Resizing and Moving Around 56 Data Grid to ModelView 65
Data Grid Information to Excel 150 F
Data Grid Overview 53 Facilitator Keypad 162
Data Grid: 167, 169, 170, 175 Facilitator vs. Participant Functions 89
Decreasing Utility Curves 73 Feasible/Infeasible Solution 170
Default Facilitator Menus 163 Formula Grid 170
Delete Node 15 Formula Grid Menu 170
Deleting a Formula Type 60 Formula Type 60, 170
Deleting Participants 92 Copying or Deleting 60
Dependencies 139 Formula Type None 78
Diagonal Pairwise 169 Formulas Grid 170
Diagonal Pairwise Comparisons 62 Formulas Grid Menu 170
Direct 169 Funding Pools 140
Direct Formula 78 G
Discrete Alternative Resource Allocation Gap Analysis 170
Example - Hawthorne Valley 123 Geometric Average 170
Discrete Alternative Resource Allocation
Geometric Indicator 170
Optimization DARA 123
Geometric Variance 170
Distributive Synthesis 29, 169
Global Alternatives 167, 171
Document Linking and Embedding 50
Global Priority 171, 175
Dynamic Sensitivity 32
Goal 171
180
Goal Node 171 Information Document 173
Gradient Sensitivity Graph 35 Information Documents 49
Grandchild 171 Information Documents and Notes 49
Graphical Comparison Mode 171 Installing Expert Choice 9
Group Decision Making 99 Instensity Scales 173
Group Decision Making Using a Network Intensity 175
or the Web 99 Internet 109
Group Enabling a Model 91 Introduction to Expert Choice 3
Group Model 98 Invert 173
Opening 98 J
Grouping Nodes in the Hierarchy 44 Judgment 173
Groups 141 Judgment vs. Data 174
H Judgments for the Sub-objectives Using
Head-to-Head Graph 35 the Graphical Mode 24
Hierarchy to Word 148 L
Hierarchy: 168, 169, 171 Linked Documents 50
How the Hardware and Keypads are Local Priority 174, 175
Activated 161 Logging into a Model on the Server 117
How to Activate Receiver and Keypads M
161
Making a Element Dormant in the
How to Instsall Expert Choice 2000 9
Pairwise Comparison Matrix 28
I
Making a Factor Dormant in the Pairwise
ideal alternative 170 Comparison Matrix 28
Ideal Synthesis 29, 171 Making an Ojbective or Alternative
Ideal Synthesis and Resource Allocation Dormant in the Pairwise Comparison
Matrix 28
172
Importing Data from an External Making Pairwise Comparisons 18
Database 83 Making Verbal Judgments for the
Importing Input from Word 149 Objectives Overview 19
Mapping in the Data Grid to an External
Improving Inconsistency 22
Database 82
Incomplete Hierarchy 172
ModelView 169
incomplete judgments 169
ModelViewe 174
Inconsistencies 168
ModelView's Alternatives 167
Inconsistency 22
Modifying an Existing Ratings Scale 64
Inconsistency Ratio / Index 172
Moving and Copying Nodes in the
Increasing Budgets 144 TreeView / Hierarchy 16
Increasing or Decreasing Utility Curves71 Moving nodes in the Hierarchy 16
Increasing or Decreasing Utility Curves Moving Nodes in the TreeView
Overview 71 /Hierarchy 16
Increasing Utility Curves 76 Must Constraints shown on Data Grid 78
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Musts in the Data Grid 174 Reource Allocation 176
N Reporting and Output to Word and Excel
Node 174 Overview 147
182
Steps to Create an Increasing Utility U
Curve from Scratch 77 Upsizing from Access to SQL 90
Structural Adjust 176 User Defined Columns 81
Structuring 39, 177 User Defined Columns Overivew 81
Bottom-up 39 Using Keypads Anonymously 163
Top-down 39 Using the Data Grid 53
Structuring Overview 39 Utility Curves 169, 177
Strucutal Adjust 176 V
Strucutral Adjust 176 Validation Questions 156
Strucuturing 177 Verbal Comparison Mode 177
Sub-objective Sub-Criterion 177 Viewing a list of all the Pros and Cons 47
Sub-sub-objective 171 Viewing the Hierarchy 44
Synthesis 177 Viewing the Totals Column 57
Synthesis - Getting the Results 29
W
T
Web Models and the Internet 109
Team Expert Choice Overview 89
Welcome dialogue box 13
Theoretical Foundation of Structuring 39
What Expert Choice is used for 7
Top Down Strucutring Affinity
What the Facilitator Does 93
Diagramming 177
What the Participant Does 94
Totals Column in Data Grid 57
What-if 177
Trash Can 16
When to Combine Judgments and Data
TreeView 169, 177
104
Two-Dimensional (2D Plot) 36 When to Use Ratings 54
183