Systematic Review of Fuzzy Scales for Multiple Criteria Decision-Making Issues during COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 epidemic, which can be compared to the economic catastrophe of World War II, slowed down business activities and had a significant impact on all aspects of business operations. Fuzzy scales are popular MCDM (multi-criteria decision-making) methods in modeling COVID-19 problems owing to the multi-dimensionality and complexity of health and socio-economic systems. This study aims to examine 104 works that used MCDM approaches with fuzzy scales in various COVID-19 pandemic issues and were published in top peer-reviewed journals indexed in Web of Science and Scopus. This study presents a systematic review of (1) the prevalence of fuzzy scales in scientific research for multiple criteria decision-making during COVID-19; (2) bibliometric analysis was used to identify the most important articles, authors, journals, themes, and countries; and (3) the impact of fuzzy scales on spreading established fields of research in new directions was iew of Fuzzy Scales for Multiple Criteriaconsidered. Furthermore, it addresses pertinent filed criticism, validating certain claims and dispelling others. Finally, the present study result helps regulators, academic scholars, and policy-makers to understand the current perspective and trends on multiple criteria decision-making with fuzzy scales during COVID-19 and understand the relevant areas that require further investigation.

Keywords

• fuzzy theory
• trends and characteristics
• multiple criteria decision making
• COVID-19
• systematic review