Logical Decisions - Classweb

In Depth
Introduction
This section is a more detailed discussion of how you can use
multi-objective decision analysis (MODA) to evaluate difficult
real-life decisions. First, we will summarize the steps in the
decision analysis approach. We then discuss each step in detail
along with how to use Logical Decisions (LDW) to carry out the
steps.
LDW provides a sophisticated method for comparing and ranking
alternatives. It lets you use the powerful tools of decision
analysis to evaluate complicated alternatives involving
uncertainties and seemingly incomparable characteristics. The
more familiar you become with the principles of decision analysis
and their use in LDW, the more insights you can gain into your
decisions by using the software.
Decision analysis was developed in the 1960s and 1970s at
Stanford, MIT and other major universities (see Bibliography). It
is generally considered a branch of the engineering discipline of
Operations Research, but also has links to economics,
mathematics and psychology. LDW makes it easy to use decision
analysis for comparing alternatives.
The essence of decision analysis is to break complicated decisions
down into small pieces that you can deal with individually and
then recombine logically.
A key goal of decision analysis is to make a clear distinction
between the choices that you can make (the alternatives), the
characteristics of the alternatives (quantified by the measures)
and the relative desirability of different sets of characteristics
(preferences). These distinctions let you clearly separate the
objective and subjective parts of your decision.
The alternatives and the way they are described using the
measures are relatively objective. Even if there are uncertainties
in the levels of the measures, it is usually possible to come to an
agreement about how to characterize them.
Section 9 -- In Depth 9-1