Method

Analytic Hierarchy Process

Turn a complex choice into a hierarchy, then convert pairwise judgments into consistent priority weights.

The founder

Thomas L. Saaty

1926–2017 · Mathematician & decision scientist

A Distinguished Professor at the University of Pittsburgh with a Yale PhD in mathematics. In the 1970s he created AHP on one simple insight: people compare two things at a time far more reliably than they rank many at once.

AHP (1980)ANP100k+ citations

The idea

A decision, as a hierarchy

In five steps

Build the hierarchy

Goal → criteria → alternatives.

Compare in pairs

Judge two at a time on the 1–9 scale.

Derive weights

Priorities from the principal eigenvector.

Check consistency

Keep CR ≤ 0.10.

Rank

Synthesize global priorities.

Saaty's 1–9 scale

How strongly does one element beat another?

1 · Equal5 · Strong9 · Extreme

Example result

Final priority weights for the alternatives

Option A

52%

Option B

31%

Option C

17%

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Saaty, T.L. (1980). The Analytic Hierarchy Process. McGraw-Hill.