The analytic hierarchy process is a widely used multi-criteria decision-making method that involves the construction of pairwise comparison matrices. To infer a decision, a consistent or near-consistent matrix is desired, and therefore, several methods have been developed to control or improve the overall consistency of the matrix. However, controlling the overall consistency does not necessarily…
Uncertainty is an inherent characteristic of climate forecasts and projections. While there is an expanding body of international research focussed on identifying what climate information users need to know about uncertainty, and how this should be communicated, very little of this has been conducted in a Chinese cultural context. This paper reports on the findings…
The chapter (with Angela Cassidy) presents an innovative approach for capturing the mental models of food chains held by the public and other stakeholders such as food producers, scientists and retailers, based on using icons depicting key elements such as farms, factories, lorries, supermarkets, kitchens. Through group discussion different stakeholder groups used these icons and…
To develop effective climate change policy, decision-makers need to have the best possible understanding of the available climate science. The IPCC Assessment Reports therefore aim to lay the foundation for informed political decision-making by providing policy-relevant information. But how successful are IPCC reports at communicating key findings? Although IPCC reports display key information in graphs,…
Transitive preference, i.e., if you prefer apples to bananas and bananas to cherries, you also prefer apples to cherries, is a basic property of some influential rational choice models. Contrary to this, Tversky, in his seminal 1969 article, presented evidence of intransitive preferences in two contexts, one of which involved choices between simple monetary lotteries….
As part of the United Nations Secretariat Executive Management Programme to which he contributes for the UN System Staff College, Alan Pearman recently took part in a series of virtual workshops on Communication and Executive Decision Making with United Nations staff from all over the world.
Yasmina Okan has been involved in a project looking at how reproductive issues affect womens’ preferences for treatments for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. Relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) is an incurable disease characterised by relapses (periods of function loss) followed by full or partial recovery, and potential permanent disability over time. Although treatments exist that can…
Together with colleagues from the University of Leeds Medical School and from the University of Manchester, Alan Pearman is one of a team of academics advising Airlines UK on testing-based alternatives to the Government’s current 14-day quarantine requirement for airline passengers arriving in the UK from countries deemed to be high risk in terms of…
This paper uses Item Response Theory to develop new financial literacy scales and shows that they predict key indictors of financial well-being. Here is the Abstract: Ranyard, R., McNair, S., Nicolini, G., & Duxbury, D. (2020). An item response theory approach to constructing and evaluating brief and in‐depth financial literacy scales. We applied Item Response…
Josh Weller’s latest research paper sheds light on how the development of self-regulation links to decision making competence. Here is the Abstract: Developmental trajectory classes in psychological dysregulation predict later decision-making competence. Addictive Behaviors. Adolescence and emerging adulthood are developmental periods associated with increased risk taking, including increases in alcohol and substance use and antisocial behaviors….
