Soft Sets and Its Applications

Abstract

Uncertainty is an inherent characteristic of modern day databases. In order to handle such databases with uncertainty, several new models have been introduced in the literature. Some new models like fuzzy sets introduced by Zadeh (1965), rough sets invented by Z. Pawlak (1982) and intuitionistic fuzzy sets extended by K.T. Atanassov (1986). All these models have their own pros and cons. However, one of the major problems with these models is the lack of sufficient number of parameters to deal with uncertainty. In order to add adequate number of parameters, soft set theory was introduced by Molodtsov in 1999. Since then the theoretical developments on soft set theory has attracted the attention of researchers. However, the practical applications of any theory are of enough importance to make use of it. In this chapter, the basic definitions of soft set, operations and properties are discussed. Also, the aim in this chapter is to discuss on the different applications of soft sets; like decision making, parameter reduction, data clustering and data dealing with incompleteness.