A method for public opinion-based formal description of weakly structured subject domains

• Datum: 2018
• Hauptverfasser: Kadenko, S. V., Vysotskyi, V. O.
• Format: Artikel
• Sprache: Ukrainian
• Veröffentlicht: Інститут проблем реєстрації інформації НАН України 2018
• Schlagworte: decision-making support; weakly structured subject domain; hierarchic decomposition of a problem; expert estimate; Likert scale
• Online Zugang: http://drsp.ipri.kiev.ua/article/view/158510
• Назва журналу: Data Recording, Storage & Processing

It has been shown that for territorial community-level decision making it is appropriate to utilize expert data based-methods, as this subject domain is a weakly structured one. At the same time, opinion of the target territorial community representatives should be taken into consideration alongside expert data during decision making. A method for formal description of weakly structured community-level problems taking into consideration both expert information and opinion of respondents from among community representatives has been suggested. It represents a hybrid approach, incorporating elements of both traditional expert data-based methods and social surveying. The main goal is to set by a decision-maker or research organizer. It is then decomposed by experts into sub-goals or factors that are crucial for its achievement, and these factors and their weights are estimated by respondents who are ordinary community members. The method includes the following conceptual steps: hierarchical decomposition of the problem, direct estimation of importance of factors that influence the problem, estimation of lowest-level «non-decomposable» factors by respondents in Likert agreement scale, and rating of the factors based on respondents’ estimates through linear convolution (weighted summing). These ratings provide the basis for defining top-priority activities that should be performed in order to solve the problem, and for subsequent distribution of limited resources among these activities. Experimental results, obtained in the process of actual research of public space quality, illustrate the method’s application, and confirm its high efficiency.The strongest point of the suggested method is the combination of efficiency and ease of use. In contrast to traditional expert data-based methods it does not require any coaching sessions to be held with the respondents prior to estimation. The method is intended for decision-making support at the level of territorial communities (urban, rural, raion, others) in the spheres, directly related to the interests of community members. Target users of the method include local self-government bodies, public and volunteer organizations, activists, and other interested parties.