The multi-attribute group decision making method based on the interval grey linguistic variables

Abstract

The extended TOPSIS method is proposed to solve multi-attribute group decision-making problems which the attribute values take the form of interval grey linguistic variables and attribute weight is unknown. To begin with, the relative concepts of interval grey linguistic variables are defined; the operation rules, the properties, and the distance between the two interval grey linguistic variables are established. Then the evaluation information of each expert is aggregated into the group information by the arithmetic weighted average method, and the mathematical model is constructed to solve the attribute weight based on the rules of the maximum deviation. Furthermore, the ranking order of alternatives is determined by TOPSIS method. Finally, the practical example is given to show the decision-making steps and the effectiveness of this method.   Key words: Grey fuzzy number, interval grey linguistic variables, TOPSIS, multi-attribute group decision making.