Ordinal ranking methods for multicriterion decision making

Given multiple criteria and multiple alternatives, the goal is to aggregate the criteria information and obtain an overall ranking of alternatives. An ordinal ranking method requires only that the rank order of the alternatives be known for each criterion. We compare and illustrate the ordinal ranking methods devised by Borda, Bernardo, Cook and Seiford, Köhler, and Arrow and Raynaud. We show whether each method places the Condorcet winner (if it exists) in first place, ranks the alternatives according to the Condorcet order (if it exists), and satisfies two principles of sequential independence. We also consider the application of these methods to cost and operational effectiveness analyses (COEAs).