On the combination and normalization of interval-valued belief structures

  • Authors:

  • Ying-Ming Wang;Jian-Bo Yang;Dong-Ling Xu;Kwai-Sang Chin

  • Affiliations:

  • School of Public Administration, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, PR China and Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, Manchester M15 6PB, UK;Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, Manchester M15 6PB, UK;Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, Manchester M15 6PB, UK;Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Engineering Management, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

  • Venue:
  • Information Sciences: an International Journal
  • Year:
  • 2007

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Abstract

This paper investigates the issues of combination and normalization of interval-valued belief structures within the framework of Dempster-Shafer theory (DST) of evidence. Existing approaches are reviewed, examined and critically analysed. They either ignore the normalization or separate it from the combination process, leading to irrational or suboptimal interval-valued belief structures. A new logically correct optimality approach is developed, where the combination and the normalization are optimised together rather than separately. Numerical examples are provided throughout the paper.