Evidence based decision analysis and support

Abstract

The evidential reasoning (ER) approach was developed to support multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA). It is based on the Dampster's combination rule for criteria aggregation and belief function for treating ignorance. In the original ER approach, however, alternative ranking depends on the accurate estimation of a value function, which may be difficult in certain decision environments. In this paper, the link and difference between the ER algorithm and Dampster's combination rule are analysed first. A new alternative ranking method is then investigated as an integrated part of the enhanced ER approach.