A method of competition result evaluation based on social choice theory

Competition results are traditionally decided based on referees' rating scores. However, due to the inconsistent evaluation standard and the different subjective wishes of referees, the evaluation results will be affected to some extent. Thus, the objectivity of competition results will be reduced. We propose a method by using referees' preference ordering for players instead of traditional scores to evaluate the competition result. We constructs a relationship of referees' preferences for players and calculates players' overall ranking based on social choice theory and group decision. By constructing a directed graph and calculating the value of strongest path, we can improve the objectivity of result evaluation and the difficulty of manipulating competition results. We proved that the proposed method satisfies the criteria of fairness, consistency, maneuverability and monotonicity. Competition results will not be changed due to individual referees' preferences, so we can obtain a more reasonable result. We make a theoretical analysis and a comprehensive experimental study using real datasets to verify the rationality and effectiveness of the proposed method.