Partial-Order Classification of Microcomputers

The problem is to classify forty given microcomputers according to several given equipment characteristics. Ten of the characteristics are called “qualitative” by the researchers. These are features which, if present, make for better functioning of a microcomputer. The item categories deal with the sheer existence of the features, being ordered from “not exist” (1), to “exist” (3), the intermediate category (2) being “optional”. (The original data code “0” for our “1”, and “2” for our “3”). Only two out of the ten features listed below, namely 5 and 10, are numerically ordered. Following are listed the ten items for classifying the microcomputers (category ranks are in parentheses): 1. Color monitor (1,2,3) 2. Disk Operating System CP/M (1,2,3) 3. Disk Operating System MS-DOS (1,2,3) 4. Disk Operating System “Other” (1,2,3) 5. Processor (1 = 8 bits, 2 = 16 bits, 3 = 32 bits) 6. Parallel Interface (1,2,3) 7. Serial Interface (1,2,3) 8. IEEE 488 Interface (1,2,3) 9. Hard Disk (1 = not exist, 2 = 5 MB, 3 = 10 MB) 10. Number of diskette drives (1,2).