Screening alternatives considering different evaluation index sets: A method based on soft set theory

Abstract This paper investigates a new screening alternative problem in which evaluation index sets and index requirements provided by multiple departments are different. To solve the problem, screening alternative method based on the soft set theory is proposed. Taking the screening alternative problem with two departments as a case, the three rules of screening alternatives and the calculation process of screening alternatives are given. In the proposed method, the soft set on the index requirements and the alternatives that reach the index requirements for each department is first constructed. Then, evaluation index subsets concerning the acceptable level and the satisfactory level provided by each department are set up, respectively. Further, the soft sets concerning the acceptable levels and the satisfactory levels are constructed based on the evaluation index subsets. Afterwards, according to a selected screening alternative rule, the constructed soft sets are integrated using the ∧-products and the uni − int operators to obtain the screening alternative set satisfying the rule. In addition, the screening alternatives processes considering multiple departments and the different importance of indexes are also given, respectively. Finally, an example is used to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.