Descriptors of performance

Question 1

What is included in the structuring phase?

Answer 1

Criteria
Value trees
Discriptors of performance

Question 2

What is the structuring phase?

Answer 2

A process to make the vaue system of actors explicit, to evaluate the options or to generate better options.

Question 3

What are the main steps of structuring?

Answer 3

• Indentify fundmental concerns
• Making each criterion operational for evaluating alternatives
• Designing a performance profile for each alternative.

Question 4

What is PV?

Answer 4

Point of view. It is the explicitation of a VALUE which actors consider relevant to the evaluation of the options.

Question 5

What is a FPV?

Answer 5

A Criterion. (fundamental point of view)
- It is an end in itself, reflecting a fundamental value.
- It could be a common end for which several elementary points of view (concerns) are contributed to. 
- Respect four conditions:
Be intelligible
Be consensual
Be isolable
Be operational

Question 6

What is a value tree used for?

Answer 6

The criteria can be grouped in Cencern areas.

Question 7

What are the desired properties of a family of criteria?

Answer 7

i. Complete (exhaustive)
ii. Non Redundant and Concise (minimalty)
iii. Decomposable ( from the independence propriety of each criterion)
iv. Consensual (from the intelligibility and consensuality properties of each criterion)

Question 8

What is a quantitative descriptor?

Answer 8

Use of numbers

Question 9

What is a qualitative descriptor?

Answer 9

Use of semantic expressions and numbers.

Question 10

What is pictorial discriptors?

Answer 10

Use of visual representations

Question 11

What is a continuous descriptor?

Answer 11

Represented by a continuous function

Question 12

Discrete discriptor?

Answer 12

Represented by a finite set of impact levels.

Question 13

Direct discriptor?

Answer 13

Related to the criterion in a natural way. Directly reflects effets

Question 14

Indirect decriptor?

Answer 14

Indicates causes more than effects

Question 15

Constructed descriptor

Answer 15

Describes characteristics underlying the criterion.

Question 16

What type of descriptor is:
Criterion: Apartment size
Descriptor: Area in m^2

Answer 16

Quantitative
Direct
Continuous

Question 17

What type of descriptor?
Criterion: Urban centrality of the rail station.
L5 Good access. All located in the center
L4 good access. Most located in the center
L3 Ok access. Not always central
L2 Bad access. Not central.

Answer 17

Qualitative
Constructive
Discrete

Question 18

What type of descripror?
Criterion: Damage to stone statues caused by acid rain
Descriptor: Sulfur dioxide concentration measured by part per million in the vicinity of the statues

Answer 18

Quantitative
indirect
contiunous

Question 19

Type of descriptor?
Criteria: breathing difficulties when doing efforts.
Descriptor: Pictures from best to worst.

Answer 19

Pictorial
constructed
discrete

Question 20

What descriptors should we choose?

Answer 20

Quantitative better than qualitative
Continuous better than discrete
If there is a direct descriptor, choose it.
In case of indirect descriptors the use of indicators simplify the task of defining descriptors but also raises the risk of redundancies and the loss of the meaning of the descriptors.

Question 21

Why should we use descriptors of performance?

Answer 21

• to help understand the decision context.
• Turn the criterion more intelligible
• help find obvious solutions
• allow the construction of local preference scales.
• Ideal to measure the degree to which the objectives are satisfied.