Build criteria and anchors that withstand scrutiny

The same option may be useful for learning and unsuitable for industrialisation. Before measurement, the mandate fixes the decision, objective, horizon, scarce resources, affected population and baseline option.

Question

A decision phrased so it can actually be resolved

Baseline

What happens if no new option is commissioned

Options

Complete candidates that are comparable and distinct

Authority

The person or body empowered to accept trade-offs

A criterion enters the model only if it describes a useful difference between options. We search for missing effects, overlaps and causal dependencies before writing a scale.

• Relevance — the measured effect matters to the objective or an affected party
• Discrimination — the options can genuinely differ on this criterion
• Measurability — data, observation or a structured judgement is available
• Non-redundancy — the same effect is not valued under two headings
• Compensability — a better result elsewhere may legitimately offset a loss here

A value function translates performance into the language of the decision. It may be linear, contain a threshold or reflect diminishing returns; its form must be justified, not selected to improve a ranking.

The additive model assumes that preferences on one criterion remain interpretable regardless of the level taken by the others. If the effect of one criterion structurally depends on another, aggregation can tell a false story.

Same question

Identical objective, horizon and baseline for every option

Valid scales

Anchors and intermediate values reviewed before consolidation

Independence

No criterion replicates or mechanically conditions another

Accepted trade-offs

Residual compensation accepted by the authority

Two assessors independently appraise calibration options. The comparison improves the scale, clarifies the evidence and separates disagreement about facts from disagreement about preferences.

• Score separately — retain the initial value, evidence and rationale
• Compare — locate the anchor, datum or scope producing the difference
• Correct — rewrite a scale that permits incompatible interpretations
• Arbitrate — retain the initial values and the selected value with its authority
• Replay — verify the corrected scale on a second calibration option

Swing weighting compares the value of moving from the low to the high anchor on each criterion, over the range actually observed between options. An important-sounding criterion may carry little weight if all candidates are equivalent on it.

The calibration record assembles the frame, criteria tree, raw measures, value functions, calibration options, initial appraisals, calibration decisions and weight scenarios. Every object carries a version and owner.