Utility of consistency measure in the analytic hierarchy process

The main purpose of this study is to provide some empirical evidence to support the consistency measure as an essential component in the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), which is known to be a research method useful to both decision making and empirical research in construction information and management. The measure helps to affirm that individual decision makers capture logical and reasonable preferences when making decisions. It also supports empirical research conducted by either practitioners or academic researchers to ensure that the questionnaires are not poorly answered. Measure of the consistency level is expected to be able to detect inconsistent responses. In this study, strategies have been adopted to compare the AHP with the simple rating method to justify the criticality of consistency using data from a study of construction supply chain information. Three groups of responses (overall, consistent and inconsistent) based on the consistency measure were compared. Results indicate that responses to the AHP method having acceptable consistency (the consistent group) were shown to be consistent with the responses from the simple rating method. This supports that the consistent responses are reliable. Suggestions are given to improve the undertaking of AHP research.