We apologize for a recent technical issue with our email system, which temporarily affected account activations. Accounts have now been activated. Authors may proceed with paper submissions. PhDFocusTM
CFP last date
20 December 2024
Reseach Article

An Evidential Reasoning-based Decision Support System to Support House Hunting

by Tanjim Mahmud, Mohammad Shahadat Hossain
International Journal of Computer Applications
Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Volume 57 - Number 21
Year of Publication: 2012
Authors: Tanjim Mahmud, Mohammad Shahadat Hossain
10.5120/9242-3884

Tanjim Mahmud, Mohammad Shahadat Hossain . An Evidential Reasoning-based Decision Support System to Support House Hunting. International Journal of Computer Applications. 57, 21 ( November 2012), 51-58. DOI=10.5120/9242-3884

@article{ 10.5120/9242-3884,
author = { Tanjim Mahmud, Mohammad Shahadat Hossain },
title = { An Evidential Reasoning-based Decision Support System to Support House Hunting },
journal = { International Journal of Computer Applications },
issue_date = { November 2012 },
volume = { 57 },
number = { 21 },
month = { November },
year = { 2012 },
issn = { 0975-8887 },
pages = { 51-58 },
numpages = {9},
url = { https://ijcaonline.org/archives/volume57/number21/9242-3884/ },
doi = { 10.5120/9242-3884 },
publisher = {Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA},
address = {New York, USA}
}
%0 Journal Article
%1 2024-02-06T21:01:15.690721+05:30
%A Tanjim Mahmud
%A Mohammad Shahadat Hossain
%T An Evidential Reasoning-based Decision Support System to Support House Hunting
%J International Journal of Computer Applications
%@ 0975-8887
%V 57
%N 21
%P 51-58
%D 2012
%I Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Abstract

House hunting meaning the activity of trying to find a house to live in, is considered as one of the most important activities for many families worldwide. This involves many criterions/factors to be measured and evaluated. These factors are expressed both in quantitative and qualitative ways. In addition, a hierarchical relationship exists among the factors. Moreover, it is difficult to measure qualitative factors in an objective/quantitative way, resulting incompleteness in data and hence, uncertainty. Therefore, it is necessary to address the issue of uncertainty by using appropriate methodology; otherwise, the decision to select a house to live in will become inappropriate. There exist many methods such as Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), Analytical Network Process (ANP), Inner Product Vector (IPV) to address the issue presented in this paper. However, none of them is able to address the issue of uncertainty and hence, resulting inappropriate selection of a house to live in. Therefore, this paper demonstrates the application of a novel method named Evidential Reasoning (ER), which is capable of addressing the uncertainty of multi-criterion problem, where there exist factors of both subjective and quantitative nature. The ER approach handles uncertainties by using a belief structure, the evidential reasoning approach used in aggregating degrees of belief from lower level attributes to higher level attributes [7]. This paper reports the development of DSS using ER approach, which is capable of providing overall assessment on the location of a house to live in taking account of both qualitative and quantitative factors. Chittagong, which is the second largest city of Bangladesh has been considered as the case study area to demonstrate the application of the developed DSS.

References
  1. M Sonmez, G. Graham and J. B. Yang and G D Holt, "Applying evidential reasoning to pre-qualifying construction contractors", Journal of Management in Engineering, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 111-119, 2002.
  2. J. B. Yang, "Rule and utility based evidential reasoning approach for multiple attribute decision analysis under uncertainty", European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 131, No. 1, pp. 31-61, 2001.
  3. Y. M. Wang, J. B. Yang and D. L. Xu, "Environmental Impact Assessment Using the Evidential Reasoning Approach", European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 174, No. 3, pp. 1885-1913, 2006.
  4. Lisa M. (2008). The Sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods. Los Angeles, Calif. : Sage Publications. ISBN 1-4129-4163-6.
  5. http://www. pearson. ch/1449/9780273722595/An-Introduction-to-Geographical. aspx
  6. Dodge Y. (2003) The Oxford Dictionary of Statistical Terms, OUP. ISBN 0-19-920613-9
  7. D. L. Xu and J. B. Yang, "Introduction to multi-criteria decision making and the evidential reasoning approach", Working Paper Series,Paper No. : 0106 , ISBN: 1 86115 111 X (http://www. umist. ac. uk/management), Manchester School of Management, UMIST, pp. 1-21, 2001.
  8. Saaty, T. L. (1980). The Analytic Hierarchy Process: Planning, Priority Setting, Resource Allocation. New York: McGraw-Hill,.
  9. Grandzol, John R. (August 2005). "Improving the Faculty Selection Process in Higher Education: A Case for the Analytic Hierarchy Process" . IR Applications 6. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
  10. Atthirawong, Walailak; Bart McCarthy (September, 2002). "An Application of the Analytical Hierarchy Process to International Location Decision-Making". In Gregory, Mike. Proceedings of The 7th Annual Cambridge International Manufacturing Symposium: Restructuring Global Manufacturing. Cambridge, England: University of Cambridge. pp. 1–18.
  11. Larson, Charles D. ; Ernest H. Forman (January, 2007). "Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process to Select Project Scope for Videologging and Pavement Condition Data Collection". 86th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers CD-ROM. Transportation Research Board of the National Academies.
  12. Drake, P. R. (1998). "Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process in Engineering Education" . International Journal of Engineering Education 14 (3): 191–196. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
  13. Köksalan, M. , Wallenius, J. , and Zionts, S. (2011). Multiple Criteria Decision Making: From Early History to the 21st Century. Singapore: World Scientific.
  14. Köksalan, M. M. and Sagala, P. N. S. , M. M. ; Sagala, P. N. S. (1995). "Interactive Approaches for Discrete Alternative Multiple Criteria Decision Making with Monotone Utility Functions". Management Science 41 (7): 1158–1171.
  15. A. Taroun and J. B. Yang. "Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence: potential usage for decision making and risk analysis in construction project management. " Journal of the Built and Human Environment Review 4, no. 1(2011) : 155-166
  16. Saaty, Thomas L. (2008). Decision Making for Leaders: The Analytic Hierarchy Process for Decisions in a Complex World. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: RWS Publications. ISBN 0-9620317-8-X. http://www. amazon. com/dp/096203178X.
  17. Dey, Prasanta Kumar (November 2003). "Analytic Hierarchy Process Analyzes Risk of Operating Cross-Country Petroleum Pipelines in India". Natural Hazards Review 4 (4): 213–221. DOI:10. 1061/(ASCE)1527-6988(2003)4:4(213)
  18. L. Zadeh, A simple view of the Dempster-Shafer Theory of Evidence and its implication for the rule of combination, The Al Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 85-90, Summer 1986.
  19. Kari Sentz and Scott Ferson (2002); Combination of Evidence in Dempster–Shafer Theory, Sandia National Laboratories SAND 2002-0835
  20. Saaty, Thomas L. (1996). Decision Making with Dependence and Feedback: The Analytic Network Process. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: RWS Publications. ISBN 0-9620317-9-8.
  21. Bragge, J. ; Korhonen, P. , Wallenius, H. and Wallenius, J. (2010). "Bibliometric Analysis of Multiple Criteria Decision Making/Multiattribute Utility Theory". IXX International MCDM Conference Proceedings, (Eds. ) M. Ehrgott, B. Naujoks, T. Stewart, and J. Wallenius,. Springer, Berlin 634: 259–268.
  22. P. Sen and J. B. Yang, "Design decision making based upon multiple attribute evaluation and minimal preference information", Mathematical and Computer Modelling, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 107-124, 1994. .
  23. B. Yang and P. Sen, "Multiple attribute design evaluation of large engineering products using the evidential reasoning approach", Journal of Engineering Design, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 211-230, 1997
  24. List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, Retrieved December 29, 2009
  25. Henk G. Sol et al. (1987). Expert systems and artificial intelligence in decision support systems: proceedings of the Second Mini Euroconference, Lunteren, The Netherlands, 17–20 November 1985. Springer, 1987. ISBN 90-277-2437-7. p. 1-2.
  26. Efraim Turban, Jay E. Aronson, Ting-Peng Liang (2008). Decision Support Systems and Intelligent Systems. p. 57
Index Terms

Computer Science
Information Sciences

Keywords

Multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) uncertainty evidential reasoning (ER) Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) Decision support system (DSS)