Different ranking methods: potentialities and pitfalls for the case of European opinion poll |
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Authors: | Paola Annoni |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Economics, Business and Statistics, University of Milan, via Conservatorio 7, Milano, 20122, Italy |
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Abstract: | Prioritization and ranking of objects are primary needs in various substantive fields. It might be said that ranking and comparison
are the first step in every risk assessment procedure, whatever the ‘risk’ is intended as: social, environmental, political
or economic. Often objects to be ranked are valued by a multi-dimensional attribute which is usually transformed into a composite
numerical score. In spite of conventional solutions, the author agrees with recent recommendations of performing multiple
ranking, keeping indicators separated. Different innovative methods are analyzed and compared: Hasse diagrams method, POSAC
and Nonlinear PCA. The first one stems directly from partial order theory, the second one may be seen as an approximation
of Hasse representation in a two dimensional space, whilst the third one belongs to the wide set of non-linear multivariate
techniques and it is particularly suitable in handling data of categorical type. Among them, the first two methods compare
objects on the basis only on order property of data, whilst the last one simultaneously performs an optimal scale of qualitative
attributes and a ranking of objects. The case study is based on the Eurobarometer survey carried out in 2002, at the request
of the European Commission, which collects Europeans opinion about various political and social issues. The analysis is focused
on users’ level of satisfaction about access easiness, cost, quality, information received and contracts of various services
of general interest, such as telephone services, power (gas and electricity) providers, water and postal utilities, urban
and rail transports. Separate indicators are set up for each facet of each service within different European regions. Eventually,
the ranking of European regions is performed on the basis of the overall performance of services of general interest, as perceived
by users. Selected methods lead to almost alike results, still with some differentiations due to different approaches used.
As it frequently occurs, each method has its own advantages and pitfalls which are here explored and compared. |
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Keywords: | Hasse diagram Multiple ranking Nonlinear PCA Partial order POSAC Posets Prioritization Services of general interest |
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