Ordinal ranking methods for multicriterion decision making

Given multiple criteria and multiple alternatives, the goal is to aggregate the criteria information and obtain an overall ranking of alternatives. An ordinal ranking method requires only that the rank order of the alternatives be known for each criterion. The paper compares and illustrates the ordinal ranking methods devised by Borda, Bernardo, Cook and Seiford, Köhler, and Arrow and Raynaud. It shows whether each method places the Condorcet winner (if it exists) in first place, ranks the alternatives according to the Condorcet order (if it exists), and satisfies two principles of sequential independence. The paper also considers the application of these methods to cost and operational effectiveness analyses.