Papers
The scope of human values and human activities in decision making
Author(s)Thomas Saaty
Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business
University of Pittsburgh
United States
Nina Begicevic
University of Zagreb
Croatia
Publication date: Sep, 2010
Journal: Applied Soft ComputingVol.: 10- Issue: 4- Pages: 963-974
Abstract: During and at the end of Olympic games, we are always given the number of gold, silver and bronze medals won by each country and often the total number won as an indicator of the surmised winner. The groups that report the medal count in this manner indicate that they believe all medals are the same, regardless of the kind of medal involved. Perhaps one reason it is done this way is because there has not been a scientific way to assign appropriate weights to each type of medal. This paper explores use of the measurement theory, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), to quantify the values of gold, silver and bronze medals and use these values to compute the total value of the medals won by the leading countries in order to determine which country may be considered the winner of the 21st Winter Olympics held February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, Canada.
Keywords: AHP, Analytic Hierarchy Process, Olympic Games