REVIEW OF METHODS FOR EVALUATING AND RANKING ANIMALS BY SEVERAL CRITERIA USING A COMPREHENSIVE INDICATOR

Abstract

Effective evaluation of farm animals simultaneously on several economically useful
traits is necessary for successful breeding work. For this purpose, it would be more convenient
to form a complex index. This index should take into account several characteristics and allow
ranking animals based on such recording. There are several methods for creating a complex
index. It is obvious that the accuracy and validity of animal evaluation will be inversely
proportional to the number of traits involved in the formation of a complex index. In addition,
each method of creating a complex index has its own set of advantages and disadvantages.
Therefore, it makes sense to use several methods for creating such indexes simultaneously, with
further comparison and finding intersection points. This approach will provide a multi-level
procedure for evaluating and ranking animals. This, in turn, will help breeders choose the most
effective breeding work strategy. As part of the research, the well-known method of index
selection and the method of construction of generalized quality index were modified. Special
attention is paid to the method of construction of generalized quality index. It is shown how
you can get the relevance degree of traits included in the index if it is not possible to conduct
an expert evaluation. This article reviews the well-known and developed methods. Their main
advantages and disadvantages, as well as possible use cases, are presented here. The article
briefly shows the algorithms for forming complex indexes.