Expert review – method and decision based on the personal opinion of the expert. The expert evaluation method is part of the vast field of the theory of decision-making, and expert evaluation itself is the procedure of obtaining an evaluation of a problem based on the opinion of specialists (experts) for subsequent decision-making (selection).
In cases of the extreme complexity of a problem, its novelty, insufficiency of available information, or the impossibility of mathematical formalization of a solution process, it is necessary to address to recommendations of competent specialists, who know the problem very well – experts. Their solution of the problem, argumentation, formation of quantitative assessments, and processing of the latter by formal methods is called the method of expert evaluations.
There are two groups of expert evaluations method:
- Individual evaluations are based on using the opinions of individual experts who are independent of each other.
- Collective evaluations are based on the use of the collective opinion of experts.