Multi-criteria decision-making method based on interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets

Out of several generalizations of fuzzy set theory for various objectives, the notions introduced by Atanassov (1983) and Atanassov and Gargov (1989) in defining intuitionistic fuzzy sets and interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets are interesting and very useful in modeling real life problems. Ranking of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets plays a vital role in decision-making, data analysis, artificial intelligence and socioeconomic system and it was studied in Xu (2007c), Xu and Chen (2007a) and Ye (2009). In this paper a new method for ranking interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets has been introduced and studied. The method is illustrated by numerical examples and compared with other methods. And then a new method for handling multi-criteria fuzzy decision-making problems based on interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets is presented in which criterion values for alternatives are interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets. The method proposed here can provide a useful way to efficiently help the decision-maker to make his decision. An illustrative example is given to verify the developed approach and to demonstrate its practicality and effectiveness. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.