The cycle inconsistency index in pairwise comparisons matrices

The method of pairwise comparisons is widely applied in the decision making process. The inconsistency of data may significantly affect the final result. Since the notion of consistency is based on triads or cycles, there is a great need for defining the measure of a triad or cycle inconsistency. In the paper a set of properties of a good cycle inconsistency index is proposed. Two construction methods of a cycle-based inconsistency index for a pairwise comparisons matrix are introduced. All is supported by the examples. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of KES International