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A TOPSIS method based on sequential three-way decision

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Abstract

Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is a method for ranking a limited number of alternatives based on their closeness to an idealized goal. For specific decision-making problems, there may be some alternatives whose merits cannot be judged. Many researchers have proposed some improved ranking methods that enable a more accurate ranking result of the alternatives. However, these methods only serve to rank the alternatives, not to classify them. In order to extend the application scope and decision-making ability of TOPSIS method, this paper designs a three-way TOPSIS method that can handle both classification and ranking of alternatives by introducing sequential three-way decisions. Specifically, we first use the basic principles of TOPSIS method to obtain the Positive Ideal Solution (PIS) and Negative Ideal Solution (NIS) of the alternatives, and design four different three-way TOPSIS models are designed according to the distance measures of each alternative to different ideal solutions. Then we employ sequential three-way decision to divide the alternatives in order to obtain the corresponding decision regions. The alternatives are initially ranked according to the ranking rules of the same decision region, and the final ranking is performed using the ranking rules of different decision regions. Finally, this paper verifies the validity and feasibility of the method through an example about project investment to test the results and comparative analysis.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

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Acknowledgements

The research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 62066014, 62163016, 61976158, Double thousand plan of Jiangxi Province of China, Jiangxi Province Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos.20202BABL202018, 20212ACB202001, 20224BAB212014, 20232ACB202013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Software, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, 330013, Jiangxi, China

    Jin Qian, Taotao Wang, Haoying Jiang, Ying Yu & Duoqian Miao

  2. School of Computer, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, 212003, Jiangsu, China

    Jin Qian

  3. Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China

    Duoqian Miao

Authors
  1. Jin Qian
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  2. Taotao Wang
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  3. Haoying Jiang
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  4. Ying Yu
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  5. Duoqian Miao
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Contributions

Jin Qian: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing-review & editing, Supervision. Taotao Wang: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing-original draft, Software, Validation. Haoying Jiang: Writing-review & editing, Software, Validation. Ying Yu: Writing-review & editing. Duoqian Miao: Writing-review & editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jin Qian.

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We hereby declare that this manuscript is original, has not been previously published, and is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. We confirm that the order of authors listed in the manuscript was approved by all of us and that informed consent was obtained from all authors involved in the study.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Qian, J., Wang, T., Jiang, H. et al. A TOPSIS method based on sequential three-way decision. Appl Intell 53, 30661–30676 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10489-023-05183-2

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