An Approach For Detection Of Logical Inconsistency

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Date
2012-02
Authors
Yadav, Rinki
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Online responses to multi-criteria decision making questionnaires often contain inconsistencies, due to possible inconsistent interpretations of the questions or the erratic mental states of the respondents. If such inconsistent responses remain undetected and no appropriate corrective actions are taken, the questionnaire outcomes will be less reliable. The main research motivation was to minimize such inconsistent responses by detecting the logically inconsistent responses dynamically. The conventional approaches compute a consistency ratio to quantitatively specify the level of inconsistent responses. However, in most online questionnaires, it is too late to highlight the inconsistency level at the end. They should be flagged out as soon as each inconsistent response surfaces. In order to resolve such a problem, this research has been conducted to detect logically inconsistent responses as soon as they arise. Furthermore, a triad comparison technique based on seven logical rules is proposed. In the course of the research, it was found that random arrays of questions did not promote efficient detection of inconsistent responses. As such, the optimal triad formation rules are applied. It was then found that detection could start as early as after receiving (n-1) responses, among a total of n(n-1)/2 responses. Subsequent to the (n-1)th response, logical inconsistency detection would then be performed. The evaluation results show the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed approach for inconsistency detection on triads (IDOT). The results further show the necessity of all seven rules in logical inconsistency detection. The comparison of IDOT with other conventional detection approaches shows the effectiveness of IDOT in terms of improved consistency ratio, which is reduced to 6.7% from 16.4%. It is believed that IDOT for specially sequenced questions is necessary to better and early detect inconsistent responses.
Description
Keywords
An approach for detection , of logical inconsistency
Citation