Merging fuzzy statistical data with imprecise prior information

Abstract

Solving complex decision problems requires the usage of information from different sources. Usually this information is uncertain and statistical or probabilistic methods are needed for its processing. However, in many cases a decision maker faces not only uncertainty of a random nature but also imprecision in the description of input data that is rather of linguistic nature. Therefore, there is a need to merge uncertainties of both types into one mathematical model. In the paper we present methodology of merging information from imprecisely reported statistical data and imprecisely formulated fuzzy prior information. Moreover, we also consider the case of imprecisely defined loss functions. The proposed methodology may be considered as the application of fuzzy statistical methods for the decision making in the systems analysis.

Keywords

Bayes decisions / imprecise information / fuzzy statistical data / possibilistic decisions

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