Intuitionistic Linguistic EDAS Method with New Score Function: Case Study on Evaluating Universities’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education

Abstract

Intuitionistic linguistic numbers (ILNs) describe expert evaluation information by representing semantic assessment values and reflecting the confidence level and hesitation of decision-makers. ILNs are widely used to handle uncertain and incomplete information. The Evaluation Based on Distance from Average Solution (EDAS) method selects the optimal solution based on the distance of each alternative from the average solution, making it suitable for multi-attribute decision-making with conflicting attributes. This study proposes a new scoring function for ILNs and develops an evaluation method combining ILNs with EDAS (IL-EDAS). Experts’ evaluations of each alternative’s indices are expressed using ILNs, and the EDAS method ranks the alternatives to select the optimal solution. We apply this method to assess innovation and entrepreneurship education capabilities in universities, and compare the results with those from other methods to verify their applicability and practicality.