Glossary

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A

absolute measurement

Absolute Measurement requires a standard with which to compare elements, but mostly alternatives at the bottom of the hierarchy. The process leads to absolute preservation in the rank of the alternatives no matter how many are introduced. It is performed on each element, e.g. alternative, one at a time.

Activity Level Resource Allocation

Considers a set of alternatives, each of which may be allocated fundsat one of a given number of possible funding levels

AHP

The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a structured technique for organizing and analyzing complex decisions, based on mathematics and psychology.

AIJ

Aggregating Individual Judgments. The individual judgments are combined by taking the geometric mean of the judgments to derive a combined set of priorities for each cluster of objectives in the hierarchy, as well as for alternatives with respect to each of the covering objectives.

AIP

Aggregating Individual Priorities. The Overall alternative priorities are computed for each participant and then an average of these priorities is computed

arithmetic mean

average interval -- and is the mean or average used in common practice. It is computed as the sum of the values divided by the number of values.

arithmetic variance

is the variability of the interval of measures computed about the arithmetic mean.

B

Base Case Maximum

The maximum benefit achievable if the Budget Limit is at least large enough to fundall of the alternatives and no other constraints are in effect.

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 isthe numeric value shown in the total column of the Data Grid.

bottom up evaluation

Evaluate from alternatives, to covering objectives, to top level objectives. A Bottom up evaluation is recommended when alternatives are not yet well understood. Doing a bottom up evaluation can save time when iterating later on.

budget limit

A constraint representing the budget that is available.

C

CIS

Combined Input Source (CIS) - results for individuals are computed by combining the priorities derived from judgments or ratings for which they had roles, with the combined results for any parts of the model where they did not have a role.

constraints

Constraints, when not ignored, are conditions that must be satisfied in order to have a feasible solution.

covering objective

The covering objectives are the lowest level objectives or terminal objectives

D

Dependencies

Represent dependencies between alternatives; there are 3 types of dependencies. A is dependent upon B A and B are mutually dependent A and B are mutually exclusive

Discrete Alternative Resource Allocation

Considers a set of alternatives, each of which may or may not be funded.

E

Effectiveness

Effectiveness

Effectiveness in Resource Allocation is the percentage of total available benefit (or expected benefit if risk is in play) that is funded in the scenario.

Explicit Role

An explicit role is specified for a participant (either allow or restrict). This is presented by the inner colored box on the Participants Roles screen.

F

Funding Pools

in addition to a limit on total budget, there may be limitsto funds available from specific funding pools.

G

geometric mean

is the average ratio -- and is useful when proportions are of interest, as they are in pairwise comparisons. It is computed as the nth root of the product of values.

geometric variance

is the variability of ratio measures computed relative to the geometric mean.

global priorities

The global priorities are obtained by multiplying the local priorities of the siblings by their parent's global priority. The global priorities for all the sub-objectives in the level add up to 1.000.

I

implicit role

An implicit role is the role implicitly assigned to the participants based on the roles assigned to the groups they are in. This is presented by the outer colored box on the Participants Roles screen.

infodocs

shortcut for Information Documents, are information or description for the model, elements (alternatives, objectives, wrt), etc.

L

LDAP

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. LDAP is used to talk to and query several different types of directories (including Active Directory).

local priorities

The local priorities represent the relative weights of the nodes within a group of siblings with respect to their parent. The local priorities of each group of Objectives and their sibling sub-objectives add up to 1.000

O

Optimal Solution

The identificationof a set of alternatives to be fully or partially funded such that thetotal benefit is maximized (optimal) while none of the constraints areviolated.

P

prioritization

Determining the relative merit of members of a set of alternatives, as opposed to selecting a single one or merely ranking them

probability of failure

The probability of failure is the ratio of failure cases over all outcomes. The probability of failure is just 1 minus the probability of success.

probability of success

The probability of success is the ratio of success cases over all outcomes. The probability success is just 1 minus the probability of failure.

R

redundant judgments

The 'redundant' judgments serve an important purpose in that, in general, the more pairwise comparisons, the more accurate the derived priorities will be.

relative measurement

Measurement consists of pairwise comparisons of two elements with respect to some higher level element in the hierarchy. This process is essential for comparing intangible attributes for which there are no agreed upon measures.

resource allocation

Apportioning resources among a set of alternatives

S

snapshots

Expert Choice defines snapshots as project revisions. Snapshots are created automatically (after a change/update on a Comparion project, e.g add objectives, users etc.) or manually.

T

top down evaluation

Evaluate from goal to objectives to alternatives. A top down evaluation is advantageous in that the strategic importance of the top level objectives is paramount and not overly influenced by tactical considerations (the alternatives).

W

wrt

with respect to