Multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques are developed to address challenging classification problems arising in engineering management and elsewhere. MCDA consists of a set of principles and tools to assist a decision maker (DM) to solve a decision problem with a finite set of alternatives compared according to two or more criteria, which are usually conflicting. The three types of classification problems to which original research contributions are made are <ol> <li>Screening: Reduce a large set of alternatives to a smaller set that most likely contains the best choice. </li> <li>Sorting: Arrange the alternatives into a few groups in preference order, so that the DM can manage them more effectively. </li> <li>Nominal classification: Assign alternatives to nominal groups structured by the DM, so that the number of groups, and the characteristics of each group, seem appropriate to the DM. </ol> Research on screening is divided into two parts: the design of a sequential screening procedure that is then applied to water resource planning in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; and the development of a case-based distance method for screening that is then demonstrated using a numerical example. <br /><br /> Sorting problems are studied extensively under three headings. Case-based distance sorting is carried out with Model I, which is optimized for use with cardinal criteria only, and Model II, which is designed for both cardinal and ordinal criteria; both sorting approaches are applied to a case study in Canadian municipal water usage analysis. Sorting in inventory management is studied using a case-based distance method designed for multiple criteria ABC analysis, and then applied to a case study involving hospital inventory management. Finally sorting is applied to bilateral negotiation using a case-based distance model to assist negotiators that is then demonstrated on a negotiation regarding the supply of bicycle components. <br /><br /> A new kind of decision analysis problem, called multiple criteria nominal classification (MCNC), is addressed. Traditional classification methods in MCDA focus on sorting alternatives into groups ordered by preference. MCNC is the classification of alternatives into nominal groups, structured by the DM, who specifies multiple characteristics for each group. The features, definitions and structures of MCNC are presented, emphasizing criterion and alternative flexibility. An analysis procedure is proposed to solve MCNC problems systematically and applied to a water resources planning problem.

Multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques are developed to address challenging classification problems arising in engineering management and elsewhere. MCDA consists of a set of principles and tools to assist a decision maker (DM) to solve a decision problem with a finite set of alternatives compared according to two or more criteria, which are usually conflicting. The three types of classification problems to which original research contributions are made are <ol> <li>Screening: Reduce a large set of alternatives to a smaller set that most likely contains the best choice. </li> <li>Sorting: Arrange the alternatives into a few groups in preference order, so that the DM can manage them more effectively. </li> <li>Nominal classification: Assign alternatives to nominal groups structured by the DM, so that the number of groups, and the characteristics of each group, seem appropriate to the DM. </ol> Research on screening is divided into two parts: the design of a sequential screening procedure that is then applied to water resource planning in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; and the development of a case-based distance method for screening that is then demonstrated using a numerical example. <br /><br /> Sorting problems are studied extensively under three headings. Case-based distance sorting is carried out with Model I, which is optimized for use with cardinal criteria only, and Model II, which is designed for both cardinal and ordinal criteria; both sorting approaches are applied to a case study in Canadian municipal water usage analysis. Sorting in inventory management is studied using a case-based distance method designed for multiple criteria ABC analysis, and then applied to a case study involving hospital inventory management. Finally sorting is applied to bilateral negotiation using a case-based distance model to assist negotiators that is then demonstrated on a negotiation regarding the supply of bicycle components. <br /><br /> A new kind of decision analysis problem, called multiple criteria nominal classification (MCNC), is addressed. Traditional classification methods in MCDA focus on sorting alternatives into groups ordered by preference. MCNC is the classification of alternatives into nominal groups, structured by the DM, who specifies multiple characteristics for each group. The features, definitions and structures of MCNC are presented, emphasizing criterion and alternative flexibility. An analysis procedure is proposed to solve MCNC problems systematically and applied to a water resources planning problem.

Gujjolaay Eegimaa (G.E.), an Atlantic language of the Niger-Congo phylum spoken in the Basse-Casamance area in Senegal, exhibits a system of nominal classification known as a "gender/ noun class system". In this type of nominal classification system which is prevalent in Niger-Congo languages, there is controversy as to whether the obligatory classification of all nouns into a finite number of classes has semantic motivations. In addition to the disputed issue of the semantic basis of the nominal classification, the formal criteria for assigning nouns into classes are also disputed in Joola languages and in G.E. In this PhD thesis, I propose an investigation of the formal and semantic properties of the nominal classification system of Gujjolaay Eegimaa (G.E). Based on cross-linguistic and language-specific research, I propose formal criteria whose application led to the discovery of fifteen noun classes in G.E. Here, I argue that the G.E. noun class system has semantic motivations. I show that some nouns in this language may be classified or categorized on the basis of shared properties as stipulated in the classical theory of categorization. However, most of the classification of the G.E. nouns is based on prototypicality and extension of such prototypes by family resemblance, chaining process, metaphor and metonymy, as argued in the prototype theory from cognitive semantics. The parameters of categorization that fruitfully account for the semantic basis of the G.E. nominal classification system are both universal and cultural-specific. Primary data constitutes the material used in this research and include lexical (including loanwords), textual as well as experimental data using picture stimuli. The collected data comprise different types of communicative events recorded in audio and video formats and also in written format through participant observation.