Use of the Dominance-Based Rough Set Approach as a Decision Aid Tool for the Selection of Development Projects in Northern Quebec

The purpose of this article is to present a summary of research results relating to the application of the dominance-based rough set (DRSA) approach to the selection of projects in the context of the Northern Quebec development plan. Based on this research, decision makers will be able to rank municipalities according to their actual needs in social and economic terms. We believe that public administrators will be able to use various socio-economic indicators in order to classify, based on chosen criteria, municipalities (objects) in one of the following four categories: [A]―the best in the region in terms of the criteria considered; [B]―those that need support in order to acquire category A status; [C]―those that need support in order to acquire category B status; [D]― those ranked lowest in the region and needing special support with regard to the criterion or criteria considered. These four categories are delimited by quartiles relative to the average ranking of municipalities. The chosen criteria are measured in order to provide decision rules based on this classification. These decision rules thus focus on the social and economic needs of municipalities with respect to improving their performance and classification. By targeting these needs, DRSA will help administrators of the Northern Quebec development plan to prioritize actions or to evaluate, for example the social and economic impact of a project in a municipality.