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Weighing evidence in decision systems

Weighing evidence in decision systems To combine items of evidence supporting a particular decision in a way which facilitates comparison between the cases supporting different conclusions, we advocate some improvements to a very simple method used in an experimental evidential reasoning system, relative evidential supports (RES). RES is very perspicacious in that decisions are made by trading off evidence items pro and con each contender. This makes the reasoning easy to follow by domain experts. The most important feature of this system is that it does not use numbers to indicate evidence strengths; simple comparisons of evidential supports for alternatives is the principle adopted. However, the de facto method of combining and comparing evidence is in a sense too stringent and in another sense too lax. We suggest some ways of improving the practical evidence comparison (or weighing) method of RES while retaining its conceptual characteristics and simplicity. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Kybernetes Emerald Publishing

Weighing evidence in decision systems

David Bell
Kybernetes , Volume 33 (7): 15 – Aug 1, 2004
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15 pages

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0368-492X
DOI
10.1108/03684920410534443
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

To combine items of evidence supporting a particular decision in a way which facilitates comparison between the cases supporting different conclusions, we advocate some improvements to a very simple method used in an experimental evidential reasoning system, relative evidential supports (RES). RES is very perspicacious in that decisions are made by trading off evidence items pro and con each contender. This makes the reasoning easy to follow by domain experts. The most important feature of this system is that it does not use numbers to indicate evidence strengths; simple comparisons of evidential supports for alternatives is the principle adopted. However, the de facto method of combining and comparing evidence is in a sense too stringent and in another sense too lax. We suggest some ways of improving the practical evidence comparison (or weighing) method of RES while retaining its conceptual characteristics and simplicity.

Journal

Kybernetes – Emerald Publishing

Published: Aug 1, 2004

Keywords: Cybernetics; Decision support systems; Evidence

References

  • A non‐computational evidence accumulation structure
    An, Z.; Hughes, J.G.; Bell, D.A.
  • Relative evidential supports and rough sets
    Bell, D.A.
  • Graded relative evidence
    Bell, D.A.
  • Evidence Theory and its Applications
    Guan, J.W.; Bell, D.A.
  • The River
    Hooper, E.
  • Defeasible decisions: what the proposal is and isn't
    Loui, R.P.