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Harold Alexander of the Pennsylvania-based Center for Scotch-Irish Studies used the Analytic Hierarchy Process to establish the factors which led some inhabitants of the US to identify themselves as 'Scotch-Irish'. This led us to wonder how Annalisa might aid the discussions about 'identity' which are now occuring more and more in the classrooms and public forums of our increasingly multi-cultural/multi-ethnic communities. The 'starter' Annalisa below resulted. In looking at it, it is important to remember that the specification of all the Options and Attributes, as well as the  Ratings and Weightings, are under the control of the user. Those supplied here are merely one possible illustrative set to start the ball rolling. (E.g. we have left out gender/sexual proclivity entirely) We take as our hypothetical example the teenage son of a White woman, who has spent all of her life in Britain, and a Pakistan-born father, who has spent the last 30% of his life here. The boy regards himself as ethnically mixed British-Asian; he has been brought up as a Muslim but perceives himself as less than fully committed to Islam and as having a tendency to secular Atheism; he has cultural tastes (especially musical) that are predominantly British; but he supports Pakistan enthusiastically in sport, with mild support for British/English teams where Pakistan is not involved. - My Home Now
My Past Home/s (main 2 if 3 or more)
My Father's Past Home/s (main 2 if 3 or more)
My Mother's Past Home/s (main 2 if 3 or more)
My Ethnicity/Race (main 2 if 3 or more)
My Religious Beliefs (main 2 if 3 or more)
My Cultural Taste/s (especially musical) (main 2 if 3 or more)
My Sporting Affiliation/s (main 2 if 3 or more)
Britain/British
Pakistan/Pakistani
White
Asian
Muslim
Atheist First four can be determined objectively ; last 4 should be as perceived by the respondent Those of our hypothetical respondent The structure of the boy's identity will reflect both the Ratings and Weightings. In slide 1 equal weights yield a British component which is twice that of the Pakistani. In slide 2 the changed weights yield a more even conception with White, Asian and Muslim equal at about 20% and British not far behind. In slide 3 the higher weight to Sporting Affiliation is not sufficient to overturn the result in slide 1, but the gap between British and Pakistani is now quite small. Harold R Alexander 'Markers of ethnic identity: an Analytic Hierarchy evaluation' Paper to ISHAP Vina del Mar, Chile, August 2007 It is important to ensure that the Options and Attributes must be coherent: for each Attribute the relevant Options must be present and for each Option the relevant Attributes must be present
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STARTERS 
