Verbal Explanation of the Scale

• If j-th and i-th criteria are of the same importance s_ij=1

(comparing the same criteria always leads to result s_ii=1 – all elements on main diagonal are equal to 1)

• If i-th criterion is slightly preferred to i-th s_ij=3
• If i-th criterion is strongly preferred to i-th s_ij=5
• If i-th criterion is massively preferred to i-th s_ij=7
• If i-th criterion is absolutely preferred to i-th s_ij=9

Intermediate stages expressed by numbers 2,4,6,8 are allowed, too.