Combined Methods for Probabilistic Linguistic Group Decision-Making: Applications to Teaching Quality Evaluation of University Music Programs

The teaching quality evaluation of university music programs constitutes multi-attribute group decision-making because it involves synthesizing judgments across diverse assessment dimensions from multiple experts. Probabilistic linguistic term sets have emerged as a robust tool for capturing the uncertainty and subjectivity in such evaluations, effectively quantifying ambiguous expert opinions. Recent advancements in the multi-attribute group decision-making method have seen the application of the exponential tomada de decisao interativa multicriterio (ExpTODIM) method, which offers unique advantages in handling complex trade-offs and decision-makers' psychological tendencies. (This Portuguese term means interactive multicriteria decision-making in English.) To address the specific demands of music program teaching quality evaluation under uncertain conditions, the authors of this study developed a novel probabilistic linguistic ExpTODIM approach tailored to integrate probabilistic linguistic term sets with the ExpTODIM framework. The authors present a numerical study focused on the teaching quality evaluation of university music programs. This practical application validates the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed probabilistic linguistic ExpTODIM method.