Parameter significance and reductions of soft sets

In this paper, the relationship between any two objects in a soft set is investigated in detail and a novel notion of parameter significance is introduced. Sufficient and necessary conditions on characterizing pseudo parameter reductions and normal parameter reductions with respect to the parameter significance are proposed. Two algorithms for pseudo parameter reductions and normal parameter reductions of a soft set are established. With these algorithms, all pseudo parameter reductions and all normal parameter reductions can be directly evaluated and obtained simultaneously. Several examples show the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed approach to parameter reductions of a soft set.     

时序犹豫模糊软集及其在决策中的应用

针对犹豫模糊软集的信息随着时间动态变化的情形,引入时间参数,将犹豫模糊软集推广为时序犹豫模糊软集。基于时序犹豫模糊软集的概念,定义了其基本的运算法则,分析对应的运算结果并讨论其运算性质。给出了时序犹豫模糊软集的一种决策方法,并通过实例表明了该方法的有效性与可行性。     

Linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy sets and its applications in multiattribute decision‐making process

In this article, a new linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy set (LPFS) is presented by combining the concepts of a Pythagorean fuzzy set and linguistic fuzzy set. LPFS is a better way to deal with the uncertain and imprecise information in decision making, which is characterized by linguistic membership and nonmembership degrees. Some of the basic operational laws, score, and accuracy functions are defined to compare the two or more linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy numbers and their properties are investigated in detail. Based on the norm operations, some series of the linguistic Pythagorean weighted averaging and geometric aggregation operators, named as linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy weighted average and geometric, ordered weighted average and geometric with linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy information are proposed. Furthermore, a multiattribute decision‐making method is established based on these operators. Finally, an illustrative example is used to illustrate the applicability and validity of the proposed approach and compare the results with the existing methods to show the effectiveness of it.     

Generalized intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets with applications in decision-making

The concept of intuitionistic fuzzy soft set (IFSS) arising from intuitionistic fuzzy set (IFS) is generalized by including a parameter reflecting a moderator's opinion about the validity of the information provided. The resulting generalized intuitionistic fuzzy soft set (GIFSS) finds a special role in the decision making applications. It can evaluate the given criteria along with the moderator's assessment of the furnished data. The properties of GIFSS are investigated and the associated relations called generalized intuitionistic fuzzy soft relations (GIFSR) are given. A similarity measure is given to compare two GIFSSs. As this is not applicable to fuzzy numbers, a new score function is devised to compare two intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (IFNs), the components of IFS. The effectiveness of the proposed GIFSS in decision making is demonstrated on four case studies.     

Interval‐valued probabilistic linguistic term sets in multi‐criteria group decision making

The theory of probabilistic linguistic term sets (PLTSs) is very useful in objectively dealing with the multi‐criteria group decision making (MCGDM) problems in which there is hesitancy in providing linguistic assessments; and PLTSs allow experts to express their preferences on one linguistic term over another. In order to reflect the uncertainty and inconsistency of decision‐makers and handle incomplete linguistic information, we propose a new PLTS called interval‐valued probabilistic linguistic term set (IVPLTS). In addition, the existing approaches associated with PLTSs are limited or highly complex in real applications. Therefore, new operations, comparison laws, and aggregation operators are developed for IVPLTS. Furthermore, we establish an efficient framework for MCGDM problems based on the proposed comparison method and the fuzzy preference relation. Then we apply it to a real‐life case under linguistic environment. The extended TOPSIS methods combined with PLTSs by using different operational laws are also included for comparison. The final results demonstrate the efficiency and practicality of the new framework.     

A new possibility degree measure for interval‐valued q‐rung orthopair fuzzy sets in decision‐making

As a generalization of the interval‐valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets, a consciousness of interval‐valued $q$‐rung orthopair fuzzy sets (IV $q$‐ROFSs) is a robust and trustworthy tool to fulfill the imprecise information with an adaptation of the manageable parameter $q\ge 1$. However, the ranking of any interval‐valued numbers is very valuable for interval‐valued decision‐making problems. Possibility degree measure is a worthy tool to manage the degree of possibility of one object over the other. Driven by these requisite characteristics, it is fascinating to manifest the possibility degree of comparison between two IV $q$‐ROFSs, and an innovative method is then encouraged to rank the given numbers. Few properties are checked to explain their features and exhibited the advantages of it over the existing possibility measures with some counterintuitive examples. Later on, we consider the multiattribute group decision making (MAGDM) method and embellish it with numerical examples, to rank the alternatives. Several numerical examples are implemented to test the superiority of the stated MAGDM method and to confer its more manageable and adaptable nature.     

Multicriteria decision‐making approach based on gray linguistic weighted Bonferroni mean operator

The main purpose of this paper is to provide a multicriteria decision‐making (MCDM) approach that applies the gray linguistic Bonferroni mean (BM) operator to address the situations where the criterion values take the form of gray linguistic numbers (GLNs) and the criterion weights are known. First, the related operations and comparison method for GLNs are provided. Subsequently, a BM operator and weighted BM operator of GLNs are developed. Then, based on the gray linguistic weighted BM operator, an MCDM approach is proposed. Finally, an illustrative example is given and a comparison analysis is conducted between the proposed approach and other existing methods to demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the developed approach.     

Some methods for strategic decision‐making problems with immediate probabilities in Pythagorean fuzzy environment

In this article, a new decision‐making model with probabilistic information and using the concept of immediate probabilities has been developed to aggregate the information under the Pythagorean fuzzy set environment. In it, the existing probabilities have been modified by introducing the attitudinal character of the decision maker by using an ordered weighted average operator. Based on it, we have developed some new probabilistic aggregation operator with Pythagorean fuzzy information, namely probabilistic Pythagorean fuzzy weighted average operator, immediate probability Pythagorean fuzzy ordered weighted average operator, probabilistic Pythagorean fuzzy ordered weighted average, probabilistic Pythagorean fuzzy weighted geometric operator, immediate probability Pythagorean fuzzy ordered weighted geometric operator, probabilistic Pythagorean fuzzy ordered weighted geometric, etc. Furthermore, we extended these operators by taking interval‐valued Pythagorean fuzzy information and developed their corresponding aggregation operators. Few properties of these operators have also been investigated. Finally, an illustrative example about the selection of the optimal production strategy has been given to show the utility of the developed method.     

Distance and similarity measures of Pythagorean fuzzy sets and their applications to multiple criteria group decision making

The main feature of Pythagorean fuzzy sets is that it is characterized by five parameters, namely membership degree, nonmembership degree, hesitancy degree, strength of commitment about membership, and direction of commitment. In this paper, we first investigate four existing comparison methods for ranking Pythagorean fuzzy sets and point out by examples that the method proposed by Yager, which considers the influence fully of the five parameters, is more efficient than the other ones. Later, we propose a variety of distance measures for Pythagorean fuzzy sets and Pythagorean fuzzy numbers, which take into account the five parameters of Pythagorean fuzzy sets. Based on the proposed distance measures, we present some similarity measures of Pythagorean fuzzy sets. Furthermore, a multiple criteria Pythagorean fuzzy group decision‐making approach is proposed. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the validity and applicability of the presented group decision‐making method.     

基于动态双极值模糊软集的群决策方法

针对实际问题中双极值模糊软集随时间变化的影响,定义了动态双极值模糊软集等概念,讨论了相关运算及性质。根据时间权重符合对数增长模型得到权重确定公式。利用集成思想定义双极值模糊软集的运算并给出几何加权平均算子的计算公式,将动态双极值模糊软集集成为综合双极值模糊软集。利用水平软集算出各对象的机会值,得出最优决策。通过实例分析证明此决策方法的合理性与可行性。     

Multiperiod multiattribute decision‐making method based on trend incentive coefficient

In this paper, we develop a method for multiperiod multiattribute decision‐making (MP‐MADM) problems, in which the decision information, including attribute weights and attribute values, is given at different periods. First, using the variation in attribute values of the various alternatives for unit time, we can obtain the trend incentive coefficient of variation that represents reward or punishment for the development tendency of alternatives. This paper proposes a method based on maximum entropy ordered weighted averaging (MEOWA) to determine the trend incentive coefficient. Second, considering the differences development tendency of the alternatives, we propose an approach that integrates the trend incentive coefficient and the original decision information to solve the MP‐MADM problems. Finally, two MP‐MADM cases are used to illustrate the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed method. Comparisons with previous research are also discussed.     

Social facilitation effect in search and decision‐making components of visual inspection

This study aimed to examine the effect of social presence on the performance of the search and decision‐making components of visual inspection. A within‐subject design experiment was conducted. Participants performed easy and difficult search and decision‐making tasks in alone and audience‐present conditions with search time, decision time, decision accuracy rates, and subjective arousal level in both components measured. Results indicated that the presence of an audience shortened (lengthened) the response time in easy (difficult) search and decision‐making components but did not influence decision accuracy rates. The social facilitation intensity in the search component was stronger than that in the decision‐making component. For both components, the performance impairment in difficult tasks was stronger than the performance improvement in easy tasks, and arousal was greater in the audience‐present condition than when working alone. The findings helped clarify the influential mechanisms of the social facilitation effect in visual inspection tasks.     

New exponential operational laws and their aggregation operators for interval‐valued Pythagorean fuzzy multicriteria decision‐making

In this article, we define two new exponential operational laws about the interval‐valued Pythagorean fuzzy set (IVPFS) and their corresponding aggregation operators. However, the exponential parameters (weights) of all the existing operational laws of IVPFSs are crisp values in IVPFS decision‐making problems. As a supplement, this paper first introduces new exponential operational laws of IVPFS, where bases are crisp values or interval numbers and exponents are interval‐valued Pythagorean fuzzy numbers. The prominent characteristic of these proposed operations is studied. Based on these laws, we develop some new weighted aggregation operators, namely the interval‐valued Pythagorean fuzzy weighted exponential averaging operator and the dual interval‐valued Pythagorean fuzzy weighted exponential averaging. Finally, a decision‐making approach is presented based on these operators and illustrated with some numerical examples to validate the developed approach.     

Decision‐theoretic rough sets under Pythagorean fuzzy information

Decision‐theoretic rough sets (DTRSs), which provide a classical model of three‐way decisions (3WDs), play an important role in risk decision‐making problems. The risk is associated with the loss function of DTRSs, which is evaluated by the decision makers. As a new extension of fuzzy sets, Pythagorean fuzzy sets can handle uncertain information more flexibly than intuitionistic fuzzy sets in the process of decision making and it gives a new measure for the determination of loss functions of DTRSs. More specifically, we take into account the loss functions of DTRSs with Pythagorean fuzzy numbers and propose a Pythagorean fuzzy decision‐theoretic rough set (PFDTRS) model. Some properties of the expected losses are carefully investigated. Then we further design three approaches for deriving 3WDs with the PFDTRS model. The group decision making (GDM) based on the PFDTRS model is also discussed. It provides a novel interpretation for the determination of loss functions. With the aid of the Pythagorean fuzz weighted averaging operator, we aggregate the loss functions, as suggested by the all experts, which support a coherent way of designing information granules in the presence of numerics. An algorithm for 3WDs in GDM based on the PFDTRS model is designed. Then, an example is presented to elaborate on 3WDs with the PFDTRS model.     

Uncertain linguistic hesitant fuzzy sets and their application in multi‐attribute decision making

To denote the quantitative and qualitative fuzzy information simultaneously, this paper introduces a new type of fuzzy sets called uncertain linguistic hesitant fuzzy sets, which are denoted by an uncertain linguistic variable with several possible interval membership degrees. Considering the application of this type of fuzzy sets, several basic operational laws are defined, and several properties are studied. Meanwhile, an ordered relationship is introduced. Then, two types of uncertain linguistic hesitant fuzzy aggregation operators are defined. One uses additive measures, and the other is based on λ‐fuzzy measures. Then, a similarity measure is presented, by which models for the optimal weight vector are constructed. After that, an approach to uncertain linguistic hesitant fuzzy multi‐attribute decision making is developed. Finally, an illustrative example for evaluating corporate environmental performance is offered to show the concrete practicality of the procedure.     

Possibility neutrosophic soft sets and PNS-decision making method

In this paper, we introduce concept of possibility neutrosophic soft set and define some related concepts such as possibility neutrosophic soft subset, possibility neutrosophic soft null set, and possibility neutrosophic soft universal set. Then, based on definitions of n-norm and n-conorm, we define set theoretical operations of possibility neutrosophic soft sets such as union, intersection and complement, and investigate some properties of these operations. We also introduce AND-product and OR-product operations between two possibility neutrosophic soft sets. We propose a decision making method called possibility neutrosophic soft decision making method (PNS-decision making method) which can be applied to the decision making problems involving uncertainty based on AND-product operation. We finally give a numerical example to display application of the method that can be successfully applied to the problems.     

A new DEA‐based method for fully ranking all decision‐making units

Abstract: Decision makers always lay great emphasis on performance evaluation upon a group of peer business units to pick out the best performer. Standard data envelopment analysis models can evaluate the relative efficiency of decision‐making units (DMUs) and distinguish efficient ones from inefficient ones. However, when there are more than one efficient DMU, it is impossible to rank all of them solely according to standard efficiency scores. In this paper, a new method for fully ranking all DMUs is proposed, which is based on the combination of each efficient DMU's influence on all the other DMUs and the standard efficiency scores. This method is effective in helping decision makers differentiate all units' performance thoroughly and select the best performer.     

On lattice ordered soft sets

Certain type of linguistic terms such as satisfactory, good, very good and excellent have an order among them. In this paper we introduce a new concept of soft sets with some order among the parameters. Some properties of lattice ordered soft sets are given. Lattice ordered soft sets are very useful in particular type of decision making problems where some order exists among the elements of parameters set.     

不同语言值集下的多属性群决策方法

针对属性权重、偏好信息集及专家权重取自不同的语言值集的群决策问题,给出了“程度”语言值集的选择准则,给出了转换函数,讨论了其性质,提出了不同语言值集下的多属性群决策方法。该方法不仅简洁、直观,而且在决策过程中不丢失任何信息,所得到的结果合理。实例验证了该方法的有效性和实用性。     

Hesitant fuzzy information measures and their applications in multi-criteria decision making

Hesitant fuzzy set (HFS) is a powerful decision tool to express uncertain information more flexibly and comprehensively. The aim of this paper is to propose more reasonable information measures for HFSs in comparison with the existing ones. First, a series of distance measures is suggested for hesitant fuzzy element and hesitant fuzzy sets. These measures are directly calculated from hesitant fuzzy elements without judging the decision-makers’ risk preference and adding any values into the hesitant fuzzy element with the smaller number of elements. Then, some similarity and entropy measures are proposed based on the transforming relationship among the information measures. Additionally, based on the proposed information measures, a TOPSIS method for hesitant fuzzy information is provided. Finally, some numerical examples are used in order to illustrate the proposed decision method and a comparative analysis is made to demonstrate that the suggested measures are more objective and feasible in certain cases.