Survey of Various Fuzzy and Uncertain Decision-Making Methods

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Authors: Takaaki Fujita, Florentín Smarandache
Cited by: 0
References: 3

Abstract

Decision-making in real applications is often affected by vagueness, incomplete information, heterogeneous data, and conflicting expert opinions. This survey reviews uncertainty-aware multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) and organizes the field into a concise, task-oriented taxonomy. We summarize problem-level settings (discrete, group/consensus, dynamic, multi-stage, multi-level, multiagent, and multi-scenario), weight elicitation (subjective and objective schemes under fuzzy/linguistic inputs), and inter-criteria structure and causality modelling. For solution procedures, we contrast compensatory scoring methods, distance-to-reference and compromise approaches, and non-compensatory outranking frameworks for ranking or sorting. We also outline rule/evidence-based and sequential decision models that produce interpretable rules or policies. The survey highlights typical inputs, core computational steps, and primary outputs, and provides guidance on choosing methods according to robustness, interpretability, and data availability. It concludes with open directions on explainable uncertainty integration, stability, and scalability in large-scale and dynamic decision environments.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Multi-Criteria Decision Making Fuzzy and Soft Set Theory Decision Support System Applications

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
16 March 2026
Language
EN
Document type
Preprint