Questions
1) In 20 words or less, what does ‘Boolean’ mean in the context of MCE?
Boolean MCE is an approach to solve location analysis problems that have a variety of criteria.
2) Why is multiplication most used in Boolean MCE, rather than addition or subtraction?
It has to be multiplied because it will keep the values at either 1 or 0 instead of adding the values, which will allow you to see the intersections that are suitable for the first criteria and the second criteria together.
3) Provide clearly-defined examples of one constraint and two factors for the following MCE problem: where are the most suitable sites for a new ski resort in the Caucasus mountains?
An example of a constraint would be that the most suitable sites need to be within 20km of a highway so that it is easily accessible to tourists and visitors. One factor could be that the most suitable area would have a variety of slopes on the resort. A second factor would be weather conditions on the mountain.
4) Describe how the concepts tradeoff and risk apply to the above scenario (300 words max.).
Trade off and risk apply to the scenario because suitability in one criteria cannot be traded off with another criteria, meaning that all criteria must be met to find a suitable area. So in the ski resort scenario there would be no trade-offs because to find a suitable area, the resort would need to; be within 20km of a highway, have a variety of slopes as well as have the desired weather conditions. One of the criteria is not able to compensate or make up for lack of another criteria. In terms of risk, this narrows down the suitable areas significantly. However, in this scenario both trade off and risk apply because if you are on a mountain that is within 20km of a highway but it does not have any snow most of the year, it is not going to be a successful location for a ski resort.