skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Combination of Evidence in Dempster-Shafer Theory

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/800792· OSTI ID:800792

Dempster-Shafer theory offers an alternative to traditional probabilistic theory for the mathematical representation of uncertainty. The significant innovation of this framework is that it allows for the allocation of a probability mass to sets or intervals. Dempster-Shafer theory does not require an assumption regarding the probability of the individual constituents of the set or interval. This is a potentially valuable tool for the evaluation of risk and reliability in engineering applications when it is not possible to obtain a precise measurement from experiments, or when knowledge is obtained from expert elicitation. An important aspect of this theory is the combination of evidence obtained from multiple sources and the modeling of conflict between them. This report surveys a number of possible combination rules for Dempster-Shafer structures and provides examples of the implementation of these rules for discrete and interval-valued data.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
US Department of Energy (US)
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
800792
Report Number(s):
SAND2002-0835; TRN: US200224%%135
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1 Apr 2002
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Constructing probability boxes and Dempster-Shafer structures
Journal Article · Fri May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Sandia journal manuscript; Not yet accepted for publication · OSTI ID:800792

Constructing Probability Boxes and Dempster-Shafer Structures
Technical Report · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2003 · OSTI ID:800792

Hybrid Processing of Measurable and Subjective Data
Technical Report · Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2001 · OSTI ID:800792