Discrete-valued belief structures combination and normalization using evidential reasoning rule

Abstract

Discrete-valued belief structures (DBSs) (known as discrete belief structures) are universal in real life, differ from precise-valued belief structures, and interval-valued belief structures (IBSs). However, the combination of different discrete belief structures presents a problem that has yet to be solved. Therefore, this study investigated the respective counter-intuitive types of behavior associated with the combination of discrete belief structures within the frameworks of the Dempster-Shafer theory. (DST) evidential reasoning (ER) for the purpose of constructing a more general method for the combination and normalization of discrete evidence. Finally, an experimental application is provided to indicate that the proposed method is suitable for combining and normalizing conflict-free/conflicting discrete evidence, and can effectively solve problems involving group decision-making (GDM) with uncertain preference ordinals, such as in a software selection problem.