A DS–AHP approach for multi-attribute decision making problem with incomplete information

In this paper, a DS–AHP method is proposed for MADM problems with incomplete information. Different from most of current methods, the DS–AHP method solves a problem directly based on its incomplete decision matrix. On the base of Dempster–Shafer theory of evidence, our approach first identifies all possible focal elements from the incomplete decision matrix, and then it calculates the basic probability assignment of each focal element and the belief interval of each decision alternative. Preference relations among all decision alternatives are determined by comparing their belief intervals. A numerical example is studied to illustrate the detailed implementation process of the DS–AHP approach and demonstrate its potential applications in MADM problems with incomplete information.