AHP and weak consistency in the evaluation of works of art - a case study of a large problem

The paper describes an evaluation methodology based on Saaty's AHP, that relaxes the classical Saaty's consistency condition and works with the concept of weak consistency. Weak consistency is seen as a minimum requirement on the consistency of experts' preferences. The relationship of weak consistency and the linguistic level of consistency description using the Saaty's scale is discussed in the paper. The benefits of using weak consistency with large problems are presented - for data input, for the flexibility of the mathematical model and to facilitate further adjustments of the evaluation methodology. In the case of pairwise comparison matrices with ordered categories, the fulfilment of weak consistency can be checked during the data input phase. This way the weak consistency of pairwise comparison matrices can be achieved even for large numbers of categories - unlike the full consistency in Saaty's sense. The paper also provides a case study of a practical application of the proposed evaluation methodology - the mathematical model for the evaluation of creative work outcomes of Czech Art Colleges. The case presented here combines evaluation based on objective criteria with peer review and suggests a possible solution to the problem of arts evaluation for funding purposes.