A Combinatorial Assessment Methodology for Complex Policy Analysis

This paper proposes an integrated evaluation methodology which serves to alleviate the limitations of a single evaluation approach by combining different assessment and policy analysis methods. It is demonstrated that, in a multi- criteria context, a so-called combinatorial framework can cope with the serious limitations of the above mentioned approach, in particular the potential redundancy in the information table and the subjectivity of the 'expert' in the weight choice procedure. We use rough set analysis as a tool for classifying and identifying the most critical decision attributes, while next a multi-criteria analysis is deployed in combination with other methods. We apply this new combinatorial assessment methodology to an illustrative case study on transportation planning, where the core assessment methodology is formed by a combined qualitative-quantitative regime analysis, extended with complementary approaches. The results of the analysis indicate that the combinatorial method indeed has the flexibility and capacity to assess complex multidimensional policy issues.