@revista_internacional{848, keywords = {Fuzzy DEMATEL, Hesitant information, Alpha level sets}, author = {Z.X. Zhang and Liang Wang and Ying-Ming Wang and Luis Martínez}, title = {A novel alpha-level sets based fuzzy DEMATEL method considering experts’ hesitant information}, abstract = {Fuzzy DEMATEL method is diffusely employed to analyze the interrelationship among factors in various fields under uncertain and fuzzy environment. In the extant fuzzy DEMATEL studies, fuzzy assessments are converted into related crisp values by means of different defuzzification ways. Such conversion may result in not only the loss of information, but also the discount of consideration of fuzzy information. Therefore, it seems reasonable and necessary to keep as much information as possible during the analysis process, instead of converting it into crisp values at the very beginning. An appropriate way to keep as much information as possible is to employ alpha level sets to handle fuzzy information instead of simple defuzzification. In addition, it is quite common that experts may hesitate under uncertain and fuzzy environment in the real-world situation, when providing their assessments on the interrelationship among factors. However, such practical issue is neglected in the extant fuzzy DEMATEL methods. With respect to aforementioned limitations, this study proposes a novel alpha level sets based fuzzy DEMATEL method to handle the fuzzy information, together with considering experts’ hesitation from qualitative context under uncertain and fuzzy environment. Additionally, two different options are provided to analyze the interrelationship among factors in the proposed method. The proposed method not only improves the extant fuzzy DEMATEL studies, but also enriches the theoretical studies of fuzzy DEMATEL, its novelty and superiority is demonstrated through illustrative example and related comparisons.}, year = {0}, journal = {Expert Systems with Applications}, pages = {118925}, issn = {0957-4174}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957417422019431}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2022.118925}, }