MCDMDecision-makingRankingMath steps

Range of Value method

OriginatorYakowitz, D. S., Lane, L. J., Szidarovszky, F.Year1993Sources1Related methods9

ROV (Range of Value method) is a ranking multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method introduced by Yakowitz, D. S., Lane, L. J., Szidarovszky, F. in 1993. It turns a decision matrix of alternatives scored on multiple criteria into a structured, reproducible result.

Key highlights

  • Follows a transparent, reproducible computational procedure that can be audited step by step.
  • Handles multiple criteria of differing scales and units within a single decision matrix.

Intuition

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How it works

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When to use it

ū_i ∈ [0,1]. u⁺ and u⁻ represent optimistic (best weight assignment) and pessimistic (worst weight assignment) utilities. Their average ū provides a robust ranking that accounts for uncertainty in the exact ordering of criterion importance. ROV is particularly useful when the decision-maker knows the criterion weights but is uncertain about their exact values.

Strengths & limitations

Strengths
  • Follows a transparent, reproducible computational procedure that can be audited step by step.
  • Handles multiple criteria of differing scales and units within a single decision matrix.
Limitations
  • Assumes full compensation — a strong score on one criterion can offset a weak score on another.

Common pitfalls

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Sources

  1. 1.
    Yakowitz, D. S., Lane, L. J., Szidarovszky, F. (1993). Multi-attribute decision making: Dominance with respect to an importance order of the attributes. Applied Mathematics and Computation

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ScholarGate. (2026, June 2). ROV. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/decision-making/rov