A New Stochastic MCDM Approach Based on COPRAS

Abstract

This study proposes a novel integrated Complex Proportional Assessment (COPRAS) approach by using stochastic decision process named as Stochastic COPRAS (COPRAS-S) to increase the evaluation performance of COPRAS. In COPRAS-S, criteria importance weights and the performance values of alternatives are determined by generating random numbers from uniform distribution in a range of minimum and maximum values of a limited number of decision-maker evaluations. Thus, the numbers of experts are increased and decision-making process is performed in an effective way because different opinions are incorporated. In addition, randomness feature brought with vagueness in decision is modeled in this process. A special normalization approach based on standard deviation is also implemented in COPRAS-S. In this way, cost and benefit type criteria are evaluated in a different way. This proposed stochastic structure for COPRAS is a practical and powerful tool that strengthens the decision.